Highlights
- •High neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio is associated with the burden of white matter hyperintensity in a healthy population
- •It may provide clues to the inflammatory pathophysiology of white matter hyperintensity development
- •Cerebral microbleeds, or silent brain infarcts did not seem to be related to NLR as white matter hyperintensity
Abstract
High neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (NLR) is correlated with the occurrence, morbidity
and mortality of cerebrovascular disease as a marker of systemic inflammation. However,
its effect on cerebral white matter hyperintensity (WMH) is unclear. We investigated
high NLR burden as a surrogate marker of WMH volume in a healthy population. Healthy
subjects with voluntary health check-ups between January 2006 and December 2013, including
brain MRI and laboratory examination, were collected. WMH volumes were rated quantitatively.
A total of 2875 subjects were enrolled, and the mean volume of WMH was 2.63 ± 6.26 mL. In multivariate linear regression analysis, NLR [β = 0.191, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.104 to 0.279, P < 0.001] remained significant after adjusting for confounders. Age (β = 0.049, 95% CI = 0.045 to 0.054, P < 0.001), hypertension (β = 0.191, 95% CI = 0.101 to 0.281, P < 0.001), diabetes (β = 0.153, 95% CI = 0.045 to 0.261, P = 0.006), and extracranial atherosclerosis (β = 0.348, 95% CI = 0.007 to 0.688, P = 0.045) were also significant independently from NLR. Additionally, the high NLR group
(NLR ≥ 1.52) was related to male sex, hypertension, diabetes, current smoking, extracranial
atherosclerosis, silent brain infarct, and high WMH volumes. In conclusion, high NLR
is associated with larger WMH volumes in a healthy population. Assessment of NLR may
be helpful in detecting cerebral WMH burdens in high risk groups.
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: July 18, 2017
Accepted:
July 17,
2017
Received in revised form:
June 22,
2017
Received:
May 17,
2017
Identification
Copyright
© 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
