Red Cell Distribution Width Correlated with the Crohn’s Disease Activity Index

Junwu Zhang*, Jingqiao Xi*, Wenpin Cai*, Zhen Guo**, Zhongliang Zhu***, Xiaojian Chen****, Yong Pan*****, Weizhong Wang***, Lei Jiang***, Yanxia Chen******,#, Jinlin Liu***,*******,#

*Department of Clinical Laboratory, Wenzhou Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine Affiliated to Zhejiang Chinese Medical University, 9 Jiaowei Road, 325000 Wenzhou, China - **Department of Clinical Laboratory, Second Affiliated Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, 310009 Hangzhou, China - ***Department of Clinical Laboratory, Zhejiang Provincial People’s Hospital, Hangzhou Medical College, 158 Shangtang Road, 310014 Hangzhou, China - ****Department of Clinical Laboratory, The 2nd School of Medicine, Wenzhou Medical University, 109 West xueyuan Road, 325027 Wenzhou, China - *****Department of Clinical Laboratory, WenZhou Central Hospital, 32 Dajian Xiang, 325000 Wenzhou, China - ******Department of Rheumatology, Zhejiang Provincial People’s Hospital, Hangzhou Medical College, 158 Shangtang Road, 310014 Hangzhou, China - *******Key Laboratory of Tumor Molecular Diagnosis and Individualized Medicine of Zhejiang Province, 310014 Hangzhou, China

Objective: For the Crohn’s Disease Activity Index (CDAI), among the clinical laboratory markers, only hematocrit (HCT) was included. Recently, several studies have suggested that red cell distribution width (RDW) and platelet indices could be used to assess the CDAI. However, different hematology analyzers for these hematological markers are used in different hospitals.

Methods: In this retrospective and observational study, the CDAIs of 185 CD patients from four hospitals were calculated; the CDAIs in four different hospitals and their correlations with RDW, platelet indices and other hematological markers were investigated.

Results: Significant differences in RDW and platelet indices were found among the healthy controls, as well as among the low and high CDAI groups of CD patients. Importantly, the CDAI was positively correlated with the RDW value in four different hospitals (Hospital A: r=0.4341, n=77, p<0.0001; Hospital B: r=0.6558, n=41, p<0.0001; Hospital C: r=0.5767, n=27, p=0.002; Hospital D: r=0.6522, n=40, p<0.0001), but not platelet indices.

Conclusions: Together, except for the HCT parameter, the RDW value was positively correlated with the CDAI in CD patients. Thus, the RDW value may be another potential marker for evaluating the disease activity of CD patients.