• Ali Ugur Uslu, Koksal Deveci, Serdal Korkmaz, Bahattin Aydin, Soner Senel, Enver Sancakdar, and Mehmet Sencan.
• Department of Internal Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Cumhuriyet University, 58140 Sivas, Turkey.
• Biomed Res Int. 2013 Jan 1; 2013: 185317.

BackgroundThe purpose of the present study is to determine the association between neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio and both subclinical inflammation and amyloidosis in familial Mediterranean fever.MethodsNinety-four patients with familial Mediterranean fever and 60 healthy volunteers were included in the study. Of the patients, 12 had familial Mediterranean fever related amyloidosis. The neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio of the patients was obtained from the hematology laboratory archive.ResultsThe neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio was significantly higher among persons with familial Mediterranean fever compared to healthy individuals (P < 0.0001). Also, neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio was significantly higher in patients with amyloidosis than in amyloidosis-free patients (P < 0.0001). Since NLR was evaluated in nonamyloid and amyloid stages of the same patient population (type 1 phenotype), we obtained significant statistical differences (1.95 ± 0.30 versus 2.64 ± 0.48, P < 0.05, resp.). With the cutoff value of neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio >2.21 and AUC = 0.734 (P = 0.009), it was a reliable marker in predicting the development of amyloidosis.ConclusionThe neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio, an emerging marker of inflammation, is higher in patients with familial Mediterranean fever in attack-free periods. The neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio may be a useful marker in predicting the development of amyloidosis.

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