Blood Neutrophil to Lymphocyte Ratio as a Marker of Inflammatory Bowel Disease Severity in Iranian Adults: a Cross-Sectional Survey

Abstract

BACKGROUND:

Given the increase in the prevalence of inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) in developing countries like Iran, studies to find new markers for disease monitoring seem necessary. Thus, we aimed to evaluate the value of a novel non-invasive marker, the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), in assessing the severity and activity of IBD in adults.

METHODS:

We collected retrospective data from adult patients with a history of ulcerative colitis (UC) or Crohn’s disease (CD) who attended the clinic, gathering information from one month prior to their enrollment. The data included demographics, the Mayo score (MS) for patients with UC, and the Crohn's Disease Activity Index (CDAI) for patients with CD, along with other inflammatory markers.

RESULTS:

Of the 108 patients with IBD included in this study, 89 had UC, and 19 had CD. The NLR was significantly higher in patients with active disease than in those in remission, with P values of 0.011 for UC and <0.001 for CD. Additionally, there was a strong correlation between disease severity and NLR (r = 0.723 for UC and r = 0.887 for CD).

CONCLUSION:

The NLR is an effective marker for distinguishing between active and remissive patients with IBD and is closely associated with disease severity.