Benefits of the Neutrophil-to-Lymphocyte Ratio for the Prediction of Gestational Diabetes Mellitus in Pregnant Women

Aims: There is growing consensus in the literature that inflammation plays a central role in the pathophysiology of obesity, Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM), Gestational Diabetes Mellitus (GDM) and cardiovascular complications. Measuring the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) provides a simple inexpensive method for the assessment of inflammatory status. We investigated the predictive value of pre-procedural (before the oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT)) NLR on the development of GDM in pregnancy. Methods: 42 women with GDM and 68 women without GDM were included in the study. Complete Blood Count and biochemical tests were followed by a diagnostic 4-point 100-g-OGTT within 2 weeks. GDM was diagnosed by the Carpenter and Coustan criteria. The NLR was calculated from the data. Results: The mean NLR level was significantly higher in GDM women (3.00 +/- 0.83 vs. 2.26 +/- 0.43 p < 0.001, respectively). In ROC analysis, NLR > 2.93 had 76.2 % sensitivity and 94.1 % specificity in predicting GDM. Logistic regression analysis showed that elevated NLR (OR: 5.512, 95 % CI: 1.352-22.475, p = 0.017) was an independent variable for predicting GDM in pregnancy. Conclusions: An elevated NLR level is a powerful and independent predictor of GDM. The results of this study suggested that inflammation plays a central role in the pathogenesis of GDM.