Prognostic Value of Neutrophils-to-Lymphocytes Ratio and Platelets-to-Lymphocytes Ratio in Sepsis Patients With Lymphopenia

• Published in: Biomarker insights Vol. 19; p. 11772719231223156
• Main Authors: Qiu, Xianming, Wang, Quanzhen, Zhang, Yuke, Zhao, Qiannan, Jiang, Zhiming, Zhou, Lei
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States SAGE Publishing 2024
• Subjects: neutrophils-to-lymphocytes ratio; Sepsis; lymphopenia; platelets-to-lymphocytes ratio
• ISSN: 1177-2719; 1177-2719
• DOI: 10.1177/11772719231223156

Inflammation plays a critical role in sepsis. The integration of neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and platelets-to-lymphocytes ratio (PLR) from multiple cell types offers a novel approach to rapidly assess inflammation status. However, the predictive role of NLR and PLR in sepsis with lymphopenia remains uncertain. The purpose of this study was to explore the prognostic value of NLR and PLR in sepsis patients with lymphopenia. In this observational retrospective study, we included 172 sepsis patients with lymphopenia and collected clinical characteristics for analysis. Through binary logistic regression analysis, we identified independent factors. Receiver-operating characteristic curves (ROC) and areas under the curves (AUC) were employed to assess the ability to predict hospital mortality risk. Our results showed a total hospital mortality rate of 53.49%. Multivariate analysis demonstrated that NLR (OR = 1.11,  < .001) and PLR (OR = 1.01,  = .003) were independent predictors associated with hospital mortality in sepsis patients with lymphopenia. The AUCs of NLR and PLR were 0.750 (95% CI: 0.634-0.788,  < .001) and 0.662 (95% CI: 0.580-0.743,  < .001), respectively. Notably, an optimal cut-off value of 18.93 for NLR displayed a sensitivity of 75.0% and specificity of 63.0% in discriminating hospital mortality in sepsis patients with lymphopenia, while the optimal cut-off value for PLR was 377.50, with a sensitivity of 67.5% and specificity of 64.1%. NLR and PLR serve as independent predictors of hospital mortality in sepsis patients with lymphopenia.