The Clinical Value of Neutrophil to Lymphocyte Ratio in the Diagnosis and Treatment of Crohn’s Disease

Background: To evaluate the clinical value of neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio in the diagnosis and treatment of Crohn's disease. Methods: Between March 2018 and April 2020, patients diagnosed with CD at the First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University were identified. A total of 128 patients with definite diagnosis, and 123 healthy people as the control group at the same time. The data of these patients were extracted retrospectively from their medical record. counts of white blood cells (WBC), counts of Neutrophils (NE), counts of lymphocyte (LY), hypersensitive C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) were recorded at the same time of colonoscopy. The IBM SPSS 20.0 software was used for the statistical analysis of data. Results: Levels of NLR in CD with ileocolon lesions were significantly higher than those in CD patients with ileum lesions (3.13 vs 2.72) (Z=-2.326, P=0.02). Levels of NLR in CD with colon lesions were higher than those in CD patients with ileocolon lesions (4.07 vs 3.13) (Z=-2.409, P=0.04). The levels of NLR, WBC, hs-CRP in activity stage were significantly higher than those in remission stage (P < 0.05), ESR levels in activity stage was higher than that in remission stage. the optimal cutoff point for the NLR level in order to predict the diseases was 2.18, and a highest AUC equal to 0.762 (0.700-0.823, P < 0.001). the optimal cutoff point for the WBC level in order to predict the diseases was 5.51 109/L, and a highest AUC equal to 0.634 (0.565-0.703, P < 0.05), the optimal cutoff point for the hs-CRP level in order to predict the diseases was 3.02 mg/L, and a highest AUC equal to 0.676 (0.606-0.746, P < 0.05), the optimal cutoff point for the ESR level in order to predict the diseases was 8.5 mm/h, and a highest AUC equal to 0.726 (0.660-0.793, P < 0.05). Conclusions: Neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio can be used as a sensitive and reliable noninvasive marker in the course of Crohn's disease.