Publication Date

2014

Journal Title

Plos One

Abstract

Introduction: Several studies reported the negative impact of elevated neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio (NLR) on outcomes in many surgical and medical conditions. Previous studies used arbitrary NLR cut-off points according to the average of the populations under study. There is no data on the average NLR in the general population. The aim of this study is to explore the average values of NLR and according to race in adult non-institutional United States individuals by using national data. Methods: The National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) of aggregated cross-sectional data collected from 2007 to 2010 was analyzed; data extracted included markers of systemic inflammation (neutrophil count, lymphocyte count, and NLR), demographic variables and other comorbidities. Subjects who were prescribed steroids, chemotherapy, immunomodulators and antibiotics were excluded. Adjusted linear regression models were used to examine the association between demographic and clinical characteristics and neutrophil counts, lymphocyte counts, and NLR. Results: Overall 9427 subjects are included in this study. The average value of neutrophils is 4.3k cells/mL, of lymphocytes 2.1k cells/mL; the average NLR is 2.15. Non-Hispanic Black and Hispanic participants have significantly lower mean NLR values (1.76, 95% CI 1.71-1.81 and 2.08, 95% CI 2.04-2.12 respectively) when compared to non-Hispanic Whites (2.24, 95% CI 2.19-2.28-p

Volume Number

9

Issue Number

11

Pages

6

Document Type

Article

EPub Date

2014/11/07

Status

Faculty, Northwell Researcher, Northwell Resident

Facility

School of Medicine; Northwell Health

Primary Department

Population Health

Additional Departments

Family Medicine

PMID

25375150

DOI

10.1371/journal.pone.0112361


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