Study of the relationship between neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio and parathyroid hormone levels in patients undergoing hemodialysis, Isfahan, Iran

Introduction: Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a progressive and irreversible disorder that now is introduced as one of the most important problems of general health (1). Serum levels of inflammatory mediators such as C-reactive protein (CRP), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interleukin-6 (IL-6) elevate in patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD). Systemic inflammation is correlated with cardiovascular disease. Furthermore, parathyroid hormone (PTH) causes releasing of IL-6 from liver and osteoblast. IL-6 increases lifetime and activity of neutrophils. Therefore, PTH may have a direct correlation with neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR). Objectives: In this study, we aimed to determine the performance of NLR in hemodialysis and its possible correlation with PTH. Patients and Methods: This is a cross-sectional study to evaluate the correlation of NLR and serum intact PTH (iPTH), Ca (calcium) and P (phosphorus) and also Ca×P products (mg2 /dL2 ) in a group of stable hemodialysis patients, including male and female gender subgroups, diabetic versus non-diabetic patients, and also patients with or without chronic hypertensive disease. Results: This study consisted of 136 hemodialysis patients. Our study showed no statistically significant correlation between iPTH (intact parathormone) and NLR in hemodialysis patients (P>0.05). In addition, we test their correlation in other subgroups including hypertensive and normotensive, diabetic and non-diabetics, and male versus female patients. We found no significant correlation between iPTH and NLR in the mentioned subgroups, too. Conclusion: Observed correlation between PTH and NLR in hemodialysis patients may be due to our small sample size. Therefore, further studies on this subject are suggested.