African Health Sciences | 2019
Neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio as an indicative of diabetic control level in type 2 diabetes mellitus
Abstract
Background Type 2 diabetes mellitus is associated with chronic low grade inflammation. One of the novel inflammatory markers is hemogram derived neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (NLR). Objective We aimed to compare NLR levels of diabetic subjects and healthy controls and to observe possible correlation between NLR and HbA1c. Methods Medical data of type 2 diabetic subjects admitted to out-patient clinics of our institution between April to July in 2017 were obtained from database and retrospectively analyzed. Control group was chosen from healthy subjects who visited our institution for a routine check-up. Anthropometric measures, laboratory data, including, HbA1c, NLR were recorded. Results Median NLR of the type 2 DM group 2.44 (1.9) was significantly elevated when compared to healthy controls (1.5 (0.9), (p<0.001). In addition, a Pearson s correlation test revealed that NLR was strongly correlated with age (r=0.26, p=0.008), fasting plasma glucose (r=0.38, p<0.001), and HbA1c (r=0.49, p<0.001). Conclusion Elevated NLR in otherwise healthy subjects may be indicative of underlying impaired glucose metabolism and moreover, NLR should be used as a marker of diabetic control level in addition to HbA1c in type 2 diabetic subjects.