Neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio and platelet indices in pre-eclampsia

Objective To compare the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR), and platelet indices between women with pre-eclampsia and normotensive pregnant women. Methods A cross-sectional study conducted from January to July 2017 at a tertiary care hospital in Delhi, India. The study compared pregnant women aged 18-40 years with pre-eclampsia diagnosed at term with healthy pregnant women matched for gestational age. Venous blood samples were drawn and complete blood count was analyzed. The parameters recorded were hemoglobin, red cell distribution width (RDW), platelet count, mean platelet volume (MPV), plateletcrit, and platelet distribution width. Results There were 67 women included in each group. NLR was higher in women with pre-eclampsia compared with the control group (6.8 +/- 7.6 vs 3.0 +/- 0.98; P=0.001). Both PLR (14.18 +/- 14.4 vs 9.54 +/- 3.6; P=0.012) and MPV (9.45 +/- 1.19 vs 9.02 +/- 1.1; P=0.029) were higher in the study group compared with the control group. Platelet count was lower in pre-eclamptic women compared with the control group (188 +/- 89.7 vs 200.1 +/- 62.36; P=0.014). RDW was also higher in the study group (P=0.025). Conclusions The present study found that the inflammatory markers NLR, PLR, RDW, and MPV were higher in women with pre-eclampsia. Measuring NLR and PLR may be useful in predicting pre-eclampsia among women at high risk during prenatal follow-up.