NLR and PLR in Schizophrenia

BACKGROUND-: It is hypothesized that immunity plays an important role in many psychiatric disorders. Inflammation plays an important role in pathogenesis of schizophrenia and mood disorders. Neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and platelet to lymphocyte ratio (PLR) are practical inflammatory markers and these are used to predict peripheral inflammation. AIM-: To study NLR and PLR in schizophrenia. METHODS-: A total of 44 patients diagnosed with schizophrenia according to ICD-11 and 40 healthy controls were included in the study. Neutrophils, lymphocytes and platelet counts of all the participants were measured and NLR and PLR were calculated and compared in both the groups. RESULTS-: There was a significant difference between the schizophrenia group and healthy controls. The NLR and PLR values were significantly higher in schizophrenia group as compared to the control group. CONLUSION-: The changes in NLR and PLR values used as indicators of inflammation have shown that psychiatric disorders are associated with inflammatory processes. Large scale studies are required to confirm these findings.