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Published on: June 13, 2021
The association between neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio and first-trimester depressive symptoms: a cross-sectional
Jiale Li1, Huijuan Lei2, Qian Ye2
1School of Health and Nursing, Guangzhou Huali College, Jiangmen, Guangdong, China.
Objective:
To examine the relationship between the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR), and monocyte-to-lymphocyte ratio (MLR) with depressive symptoms in the first trimester among a cohort of pregnant women during early gestation.
Methods:
From October 2023 to March 2024, a total of 258 pregnant women at or below 12 weeks' gestation were consecutively enrolled from a tertiary hospital in Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, China. Depressive symptoms were evaluated using the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9). The NLR, PLR, and MLR were calculated based on complete blood count parameters. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was employed to assess the associations between these biomarkers and depressive symptoms, while receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis was conducted to evaluate their discriminative performance.
Results:
Among 258 recruited first-trimester women, a total of 39 (15.1 %) presented with depressive symptoms. Multivariable logistic model indicated that NLR (OR, 1.590, 95 % CI 1.184-2.134, p = 0.002) was an independent factor for first-trimester depressive symptoms. Moreover, maternal age < 30 years (OR, 0.247; 95 % CI 0.084-0.728, p = 0.011), junior high school education (OR, 0.045; 95 % CI 0.005-0.387, p = 0.005), high school education (OR, 0.222; 95 % CI 0.065-0.761, p = 0.017), adverse obstetric history (OR, 4.409; 95 % CI 1.883-10.322, p < 0.001), and vaginal bleeding during pregnancy (OR, 6.176; 95 % CI 2.679-14.286, p < 0.001) were also independent factors. Area under curve (AUC) of NLR and MLR to discriminate depressive symptoms were 0.639 (95 % CI 0.544-0.735) and 0.661 (95 % CI 0.573-0.750), respectively.
Conclusion:
NLR was found to be independently associated with depressive symptoms in the first trimester, while MLR demonstrated an association solely in univariable analysis.
