ABSTRACT

Objective: To evaluate neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and monocyte-to-lymphocyte ratio (MLR) in patients with gouty arthritis.

Methods: Forty-five patients with gout and 45 healthy age and gender matched individuals were included in this study. Clinical and laboratory data of patients during acute gouty arthritis (AGA) attack period, as well as in remission and control group data, were reviewed and recorded from medical files. Patients were divided into two groups as having the arthritis attack and in remission.

Results: Neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio values were 4.19 ± 3.37 in AGA patients, 2.64 ± 1.74 in patients in remission and 2.07 ± 1.01 in controls. Neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio values in AGA were higher than patients in remission and controls, whereas there was no difference between patients in remission and controls (p < 0.0001, p <0.0001, p = 0.453, respectively). Monocyte-to-lymphocyte ratio values were 0.36 ± 0.21 in AGA patients, 0.25 ± 0.15 in patients in remission and 0.22 ± 0.06 in controls. Monocyte-to-lymphocyte ratio was higher in AGA patients than in patients in remission and controls, but there was no difference between patients in remission and healthy individuals (p < 0.0001, p < 0.0001, p = 0.604, respectively). The NLR and MLR values in AGA patients had positive correlations with C-reactive protein, erythrocyte sedimentation rate and leucocyte count. The cut-off value of NLR was 2.18 in receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis (73% sensitivity, 63% specificity, AUC = 0.676; p = 0.004). The cut-off value of MLR was 0.22 in ROC analysis (62% sensitivity, 54% specificity, AUC = 0.655; p = 0.011).

Conclusion: We concluded that MLR and NLR could be used as cheap and useful inflammatory markers predicting arthritis attacks in patients with gout.