Is Neutrophil Lymphocyte Ratio an Indicator for Proteinuria in Chronic Kidney Disease?

Background Recent studies have shown that neutrophil lymphocyte ratio (NLR) is a strong indicator in determining inflammation in cardiac and non‐cardiac diseases. We aimed to evaluate the relationship between proteinuria and NLR in chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients without diabetes mellitus (DM). Methods Between 2011 and 2012 files of a total of 1000 CKD patients attending outpatient clinic were retrospectively scanned. Patients with DM, chronic disease, malignancy or stage 5 CKD were excluded. After these patients were excluded, a total of 69 patients with stage 3 and 4 CKD were evaluated. Results The study comprised 27 patients with CKD without proteinuria (Group 1), 42 patients with CKD and proteinuria (Group 2) and 30 healthy volunteers (Group 3). NLR was highest in Group 2 and this was statistically significant compared with the control group (p = 0.012). The platelet lymphocyte ratio (PLR) in Group 2 was higher than the control group at a significant level (p = 0.004). There was a moderate positive correlation found between proteinuria and NLR (p = 0.013, r = 0.3). There was a positive correlation found between proteinuria and PLR (p = 0.002, r = 0.306). Conclusion In conclusion, NLR, a parameter easily found in routine blood counts of CKD patients, is a marker with prognostic value for the presence and degree of proteinuria.