The Relationship Between Neutrophil Lymphocyte Ratio and Non-dipper Hypertension

Non-dipper hypertension is associated with increased cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. Neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio (NLR) has been associated with poor outcomes in patients with cardiovascular diseases. However, little is known about the role of NLR in patients with non-dipper hypertension. In this study, NLR between dipper and non-dipper hypertensive patients was compared. This study included 80 hypertensive patients. Hypertensive patients were divided into two groups: 50 dipper patients (29 male, mean age 51.5 +/- 8 years) and 30 non-dipper patients (17 male, mean age 50.6 +/- 5.4 years). Transthoracic echocardiography and ambulatory 24-hour blood pressure monitoring were performed on all patients. No patient had a recent history of an acute infection or an inflammatory disease. Baseline NLR was measured by dividing neutrophil count to lymphocyte count. No statistically significant difference was found between the two groups in terms of basic characteristics. Mean NLR was significantly higher among persons with non-dipper compared with dipper patients (3.1 +/- 0.95 vs. 1.8 +/- 0.52, P < .001). Additionally, leukocytes and monocytes counts were higher in patients with non-dipper hypertension. In conclusion, our results suggest that higher NLR, an emerging marker of inflammation, has a positive correlation with blood pressure and is elevated in non-dippers compared with dippers.