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Objective　To assess the correlation between neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio （NLR） and the disease activity of systemic lupus erythematosus （SLE）. Methods　A total of 536 patients with SLE from the Department of Rheumatology and Immunology of the First Affiliated Hospital of Kunming Medical University were selected. According to the SLE Disease Activity Index （SLEDAI） score，patients with SLE were divided into inactive group，lightly active group，moderately active group，and severely active group. The differences in NLR among the four groups were compared，and the correlation between NLR and SLEDAI score was analyzed through Spearman correlation analysis. Results　There were differences in NLR levels among the four groups. The results of pairwise comparison showed that the NLR level of the moderately active group was higher than that of the inactive group （adjusted P < 0.001）；the NLR level of the severely active group was higher than that of the inactive group （adjusted P < 0.001）；the NLR level of the severely active group was higher than that of the lightly active group （ P = 0.011 after adjustment）. The NLR of SLE patients were positively correlated with SLEDAI scores （ P < 0.05. Conclusion　NLR can be used as a reference index to evaluate the disease activity of SLE patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]