The relationship between neutrophil lymphocyte ratio, platelet lymphocyte ratio, and depression in dialysis patients

Abstract

Chronic kidney disease is a worldwide public health issue with rising incidence, morbidity/mortality, and cost. Depression and chronic renal disease often coexist, and psychological illnesses are associated with poor results. Early identification of depression reduces morbidity and death. Neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and platelet to lymphocyte ratio (PLR) are reported as practical biomarkers of inflammation and immune system activation. In this study, we aimed to determine the association of NLR and PLR with depression in dialysis patients. This study included 71 adults over 18 without known hematologic or oncologic disease, drug use, or chronic inflammatory diseases. Comorbid chronic diseases, laboratory data, and Beck depression inventory scores were prospectively recorded. A comparison of 2 groups according to the existence of depression was made, and a binomial logistic regression test was used to determine the association between the variables and the presence of depression after adjusting for confounding factors. A receiver operating curve analysis was used to differentiate groups with and without severe depression. Seventy-one patients met the study criteria, with 46 hemodialysis and 25 peritoneal dialysis patients. The majority had hypertension and diabetes mellitus, with 47.89% having minimal-minor depression and 52.11% having moderate-major depression. The 2 groups were similar regarding chronic diseases, with no significant differences in serum creatinine levels, glucose, lipid profiles, or electrolytes. However, when the NLR of the 2 groups was compared, the median was higher in patients with moderate or major depression. Multivariate analysis showed no significant differences between the groups in PLR, triglyceride to glucose ratio, and C-reactive peptide to albumin ratio. The best NLR cutoff value was 3.26, with 48.6% sensitivity, 88.2% specificity, 81.8% positive predictive value, 61.2% negative predictive value, and 67.6% test accuracy. Depression is one of the most common psychiatric conditions in dialysis patients and is linked to increased morbidity, mortality, treatment failure, expense, and hospitalization. NLR helped predict moderate-to-major depression in dialysis patients, even after controlling for confounding factors in multivariate analysis. This study indicated that an NLR successfully identified depressive groups, and patients with an NLR value >3.26 were 6.1 times more likely to have moderate or major depression.