Meta-analysis of the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte and platelet-to-lymphocyte ratios in Henoch-Schonlein purpura and its complications

•HSP patients exhibited significantly increased NLR values than the healthy controls.•HSP patients with gastrointestinal complications had significantly increased NLR.•NLR played a more critical role than PLR in HSP and its complications.•NLR could serve as an independent predictor for evaluating HSP-GCs and HSP-RI. The neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR) are associated with the severity of Henoch-Schonlein purpura (HSP). Therefore, we conducted a meta-analysis to evaluate the clinical significance of NLR and PLR in HSP and its complications. A comprehensive literature search was conducted by searching the PubMed, EMBASE, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, Wanfang, VIP, and SinoMed databases from their inception to September 31, 2020. We used the standard mean difference (SMD) with a 95% confidence interval (CI) to estimate the pooled effect and used subgroup analysis to investigate heterogeneity. A total of 1,691 HSP patients and 563 healthy controls (HCs) from 15 studies were included in the analysis. The NLR value was significantly higher in 431 HSP patients with gastrointestinal complications (HSP-GCs) than that in 833 HSP patients without GCs (SMD = 1.09, 95% CI: 0.62–1.57, P