Eosinophil level, neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio, and platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio as biomarkers of asthma exacerbation

Abstract

Assessing asthma control and exacerbation risk in patients with asthma are so important to define. Our aim was to explore the relationship between the history exacerbations in asthmatic patients and key inflammatory markers, namely eosinophil levels, the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), and the platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR). We also aimed to evaluate the potential of these biomarkers as indicators for asthma exacerbation. Patients with asthma were categorized into two groups based on their exacerbation history, with one group having at least one exacerbation the last year (Group I) and the other group having none (Group The differences in eosinophil, NLR, and PLR values between the two groups were assessed. The mean age of the patients was 52 +/- 13 years, and 194 of the 252 asthmatic patients were female (77%). There were 79 (31.6%) patients in Group Iand 173 (68.4%) patients in Group II. No statistically significant relationship was found between eosinophil count and asthma exacerbation (p=0.551). However, the NLR and PLR values were significantly higher in Group I (p=0.013 and p=0.002, respectively). In regression analysis, the PLR value was found to significant marker for predicting exacerbation. This study revealed higher PLR levels in patients experiencing asthma exacerbations and showed that this parameter significantly predicted exacerbations. Eosinophils and NLR values are not suitable biomarkers for predicting exacerbation risk but can be used phenotype patients with asthma.