The relationship between neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio and diabetic peripheral neuropathy in Type 2 diabetes mellitus

To explore the relationship between neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN) in type 2 diabetes mellitus. A total of 557 newly diagnosed Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM) patients were recruited, including 397 T2DM patients without complication (DM group) as well as 160 T2DM patients complicated with DPN (DPN group). Student t test, Mann–Whitney U test, or χ(2) test was applied to the data of the 2 groups, including the levels of neutrophils and lymphocytes as well as the NLR values of peripheral blood and other biochemistry indexes; Pearson correlation analysis was used to calculate the correlation of NLR and detected factors; risk factors of DPN were estimated via logistic regression analysis and multivariate analysis. The values of triglyceride (TG), neutrophils, fasting insulin, urinary albumin, and 2 hour postglucose in DPN group were significantly higher than those of the DM group, whereas the number of lymphocytes of DPN group was considerably lower than that of the DM group (P < .05 respectively); NLR values were remarkably higher in DPN group compared with those of DM group (2.58 ± 0.50 vs 2.18 ± 0.61, P < .001); logistic regression analysis showed that NLR (P = .002, OR = 4.960, 95% CI = 1.843–13.349) was a risk factor of DPN. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that DPN was independently related to NLR (P = .002, OR = 4.960, 95% CI = 1.843–13.349). The ROC curve analysis confirmed that the optimal cut-off point, specificity, and sensitivity in diagnosing DPN by NLR were 2.13%, 48.1%, and 81.3% respectively. Our results showed that NLR is significantly correlated with DPN, which suggested that NLR may be an independent risk factor of DPN.