Correlation of Neutrophil lymphocyte ratio with the severity of Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: A cross sectional study

Abstract

Introduction: COPD is the major explanation for mortality and morbidity worldwide.COPD not only affect the lungs and airways but also affect the other part of the body [1].Pulmonary function test (PFT) has been used traditionally for diagnosis and prognosisof Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, but there are some limitations of PFT. Therefore, it requires to aid some biomarkers for diagnosis and prognosis of COPD. NLR (Neutrophil lymphocyte ratio) can play a potential role in the assessment and prognosis of COPD because it is easily available, low cost, and not difficult to calculate. Enough evidence is available related to systemic inflammation and rise in NLR, like in various diseases such as acute coronary syndrome, inflammatory bowel disease, pancreatitis, and critically ill patients. Objective:We are investigating the effectiveness of NLR in assessing the severity of COPD.

Materials and methods:This study was a cross-sectional observational study. It included 57 COPD patients based on inclusion and exclusion criteria. All patients were subjected to routine investigations i.e.- Complete Hemogram, Kidney Function Test, Liver Function Test, Blood Sugar Level, Serum Electrolyte, ECG, X-Ray Chest, 2d echo, ABG, PFT, and TFT.Result : Nineteen patients were found to have grade 1COPD; 20 patients grade 2 and 18 patients were of grade 3 of gold stage criteria of COPD. The mean NLR value are 2.79 ± 0.8, 3.11 ± 0.76, 2.9 ±0.77 respectively, (p > 0.05). Spearman rank correlation coefficient indicated non-significant correlation of NLR with grade of severity of COPD patients (p>0.05).Conclusion : The study has revealed there is no correlation between rise in NLR and severity of COPD. SoNLR ratio cannot serve as a marker to detect the severity of COPD. However, NLR can predict the infection and exacerbation of COPD which is an established fact.