The importance of neutrophil lymphocyte ratio in patients with psoriasis

Objective: The aim of this study is to assess the neutrophil lymphocyte ratio (NLR) as an inflammatory marker in patients with psoriasis and to compare it with healthy subjects and to evaluate the correlation with the severity of the disease. Methods: 104 psoriasis patients and 70 healthy persons were included as the control group. The laboratory results were recorded retrospectively from the patients’ files and controls. NLR was calculated by the division of the neutrophil count to the lymphocyte count in the hemogram test. The dermatologic examinations and psoriatic area severity index (PASI) scoring were performed by the same dermatologist. Results: Leukocyte, neutrophil, NLR levels of the psoriasis patients were significantly elevated compared to those of the control group (p<0.05, p<0.01 and p<0.01 respectively). There were no correlation between NLR and PASI score (p>0.05) in the patient group. Conclusions: NLR, an emerging marker of inflammation, is higher in patients with psoriasis.