A Novel Inflammatory Marker for the Diagnosis of Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis: Platelet-Count-to-Lymphocyte-Count Ratio

• Published in: Diseases Vol. 11; no. 1; p. 15
• Main Authors: Erge, Eray, Kiziltunc, Cagri, Balci, Sumeyye Buse, Atak Tel, Burcin Meryem, Bilgin, Satilmis, Duman, Tuba Taslamacioglu, Aktas, Gulali
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 22.01.2023; MDPI
• Subjects: Alanine transaminase; Antibodies; Antigens; Aspartate transaminase; Bacterial infections; C-reactive protein; Cell number; Cytokines; Diagnosis; Goiter; Graves disease; Hashimoto’s thyroiditis; Hematocrit; Hemoglobin; Hormones; Hypotheses; Hypothyroidism; Immune system; Inflammation; Iodine; Lymphocytes; Microorganisms; Pathogenesis; platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio; Platelets; Proteins; Thyroid; Thyroid diseases; Thyroid-stimulating hormone; Thyroiditis; Thyroiditis, Autoimmune; Thyroxine; Viral infections; United States; platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio; Hashimoto’s thyroiditis; inflammation
• ISSN: 2079-9721; 2079-9721
• DOI: 10.3390/diseases11010015

Background: Hashimoto’s thyroiditis (HT) is a chronic autoimmune thyroiditis that causes systemic inflammation in the body, leading to hypothyroidism and an enlargement of the thyroid gland. Objectives: This study aims to reveal whether there is a relationship between Hashimoto’s thyroiditis and the platelet-count-to-lymphocyte-count ratio (PLR), which is used as a new inflammatory marker. Methods: In this retrospective study, we compared the PLR of the euthyroid HT group and the hypothyroid-thyrotoxic HT group to the controls. We also evaluated the values of thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH), free T4 (fT4), C-reactive protein (CRP), aspartate transaminase (AST), alanine transaminase (ALT), white blood cell count, lymphocyte count, hemoglobin, hematocrit, and platelet count in each group. Results: The PLR of the subjects with Hashimoto’s thyroiditis was found to be significantly different from the control group (p < 0.001), with the rankings as follows: hypothyroid-thyrotoxic HT 177% (72–417) > euthyroid HT 137% (69–272) > control group 103% (44–243). In addition to the increased PLR values, an increase in CRP values was also observed, revealing a strong positive correlation between the PLR and CRP in the HT patients. Conclusion: In this study, we found out that the PLR was higher in the hypothyroid-thyrotoxic HT and euthyroid HT patients than in a healthy control group.