Mean Platelet Volume and Neutrophil/Lymphocyte Ratio among Patients with Ulcerative Colitis as an Indicator of Activation

Aim: To determine the changes in mean platelet volume (MPV) and neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio (NLR) in activation period among patients with Ulcerative colitis.
Material and Method: Totally 83 patients diagnosed with ulcerative colitis were retrospectively screened. Complete blood count results including hemoglobin, white blood cell (WBC) count, NLR, platelet count, MPV of all patients were recorded in both activation and remission periods. Serum C-reactive protein (CRP) and sedimentation levels of all patients were also recorded. Endoscopic disease activities (EAI) were also noted.
Results: Totally 83 patients (49 female, 34 male) diagnosed with ulcerative colitis were included in the study. MPV values were statistically significantly lower (p: 0.023) and NLR values were statistically significantly higher (p:0.011) in activation periods compared with the remission phases. In correlation analysis MPV levels were correlated with the disease age (p:0.019), hemoglobin (p:0.012), white blood cell count (p: 0.009), platelet count (p:0.001), sedimentation rate (p: 0.001), CRP levels (p:0.009) and EAI (p:0.008) during activation periods. On the other hand, neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio did not correlate with MPV, hemoglobin, WBC, platelet count or sedimentation and CRP levels but neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio was also correlated with EAI (p:0.036).
Conclusion: We have studied two inexpensive, easily applicable and non-invasive serum biomarkers, MPV and NLR, for the determination of activation in UC and determined that these two parameters are well correlated with other inflammatory markers and EAI.

Keywords: Ulcerative colitis, activation, mean platelet volume, neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio