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Overlooked hematological markers of disease activity in rheumatoid arthritis
Author(s) -
Tekeoğlu İbrahim,
Gürol Gönül,
Harman Halil,
Karakeçe Engin,
Çiftçi İhsan Hakkı
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
international journal of rheumatic diseases
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.795
H-Index - 41
eISSN - 1756-185X
pISSN - 1756-1841
DOI - 10.1111/1756-185x.12805
Subject(s) - medicine , rheumatoid arthritis , disease , arthritis , immunology
Aim The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between hematological markers and disease activity in patients with rheumatoid arthritis ( RA ). Method The study was designed and performed in the Department of Rheumatology of the Sakarya University Faculty of Medicine. In total, 102 patients with RA were retrospectively enrolled. We used the Disease Activity Score of 28 joints ( DAS 28) instrument to evaluate disease activity. Laboratory assessments included complete blood cell counts, measurement of erythrocyte sedimentation rate ( ESR ) and assessment of C‐reactive protein ( CRP ) level. Exclusion criteria included active infection and/or the presence of any hematological, cardiovascular or metabolic disorder. Results We found that the neutrophil lymphocyte ratio ( NLR ) and mean platelet volume ( MPV ) varied by disease activity status. NLR values correlated positively with the DAS 28 scores of RA patients. Especially, higher NLR values (3.92 ± 0.31) were evident in the group exhibiting high‐level disease activity, whereas the MPV values were lowest (7.11 ± 0.91 fL ) in this group. Additionally, no significant difference was evident between DAS 28 scores and platelet distribution width ( PDW ) values in patients with RA ( r = −0.055, P = 0.124). Conclusions We found that the MPV value may serve as a marker of the absence of acute‐phase disease, and the NLR level as a marker of the presence of such disease, in patients with RA . More detailed analysis of disease activity is required to further explain the associations of the markers described above with disease activity.