The role of neutrophil‐to‐lymphocyte ratio in men with erectile dysfunction—preliminary findings of a real‐life cross‐sectional study

Summary The aim of this study was to investigate the role of systemic inflammation by means of the neutrophil‐to‐lymphocyte ratio ( NLR ) in men with erectile dysfunction ( ED ). Complete demographic, clinical, and laboratory data from 279 consecutive men with newly diagnosed ED were analyzed. Health‐significant comorbidities were scored with the Charlson Comorbidity Index ( CCI ). A complete blood count was requested for every man, and the NLR was calculated for every individual. Patients were invited to complete the IIEF questionnaire. Logistic regression models tested the odds ( OR , 95% CI ) of severe ED (defined as IIEF ‐ EF <11, according to Cappelleri's criteria) after adjusting for age, BMI , comorbidities ( CCI >0), metabolic syndrome, NLR , cigarette smoking, and color duplex Doppler ultrasound parameters. Likewise, LNR values were also dichotomized according to the most informative cutoff predicting severe ED using the minimum p value approach. Median [ IQR ] age of included men was 51 [40–64] years. Of all, 87 (31%) men had severe ED . Men with severe ED were older (median [IQR] age: 61 [47–67] vs. 49 [39–58] years) and had a higher rate of CCI>0 [46/87 (53%) vs. 44/192 (23%) patients]. Thereof, NLR was dichotomized according to the most informative cutoff ( NLR >3); patients with severe ED more frequently had NLR >3 as compared to all other ED patients [namely, 18/87 (21%) vs. 13/192 (7%)]. At multivariable logistic regression analysis, NLR >3.0 emerged as an independent predictor ( OR [ CI ] 2.43 [1.06; 5.63]) of severe ED , after accounting for other clinical variables. A NLR >3 increased the risk of having severe ED in our cohort, boosting the already existing evidence linking systemic inflammation to ED . Moreover, this easily obtainable index can be clinically useful in better risk‐stratifying patients with ED .