The Relationship between Hematological Indices and Autoimmune Rheumatic Diseases (ARDs), a Meta-Analysis

This meta-analysis was undertaken to investigate the relationship between hematological indices and autoimmune rheumatic diseases (ARDs). PubMed, Embase, and Web of Science were searched for studies of ARDs and hematological indices. Standardized mean difference (SMD) was calculated with confidence interval (CI) of 95%. 18 studies were included in our meta-analysis. Compared to the healthy control group, neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) was increased in patients with ankylosing spongdylitis(AS), Behcet's disease(BD), and rheumatoid arthritis(RA)(SMD = 0.33; 95% CI: 0.19 to 0.47; SMD = 1.90; 95% CI: 0.13 to 3.67; SMD = 0.75; 95% CI: 0.23 to 1.28). Platelet-lymphocyte ratio (PLR) was found increased in RA and SLE (SMD = 33.91; 95% CI: 20.50 to 47.32; SMD = 59.11; 95% CI: 4.46 to 113.76). Mean platelet volume (MPV) was irrelevant to BD and SLE by comparing with the healthy control group respectively. (SMD = 0.24; 95% CI: -0.49 to 0.97; SMD = -0.15; 95% CI: -1.77 to 1.48). Red cell distribution width (RDW) was not related to AS (SMD = 0.59, 95% CI: -0.37, 1.55). Our findings indicated that NLR had a strong association with AS, BD, and RA. PLR was also related to RA and SLE. NLR and PLR could be recommended as inexpensive diagnostic biomarkers for ARDs.