title: Is an elevated neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio a predictor of metabolic syndrome in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease?
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This study aimed to evaluate the diagnostic value of the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) in early detection of metabolic syndrome (MetS) in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
  
  
  METHODS
  We retrospectively enrolled hospital records of 140 COPD patients and 50 sex and age-matched healthy controls. The diagnostic values of NLR were estimated using the sensitivity, specificity, and area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC).
  
  
  RESULTS
  In total, 140 patients with COPD of which 63 patients had MetS and 50 healthy subjects were included in the study. We found that the NLR values of the stable COPD patients were significantly higher than those of the controls (p < 0.001). Among patients with COPD, the NLR was significantly higher in patients with than without MetS (p < 0.001). The AUC of the NLR was 0.898 in patients with MetS. The optimal NLR cut-off was 2.56 and was validated in the testing set. For evaluation of MetS, the sensitivity and specificity were 84.1% and 84.4% in patients with COPD under the suggested cut-offs.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The NLR is a simple, effective, and practical predictor of MetS in patients with stable COPD. It has potential value in public health practice for management of patients with COPD.
authors: Department of Chest Diseases, Abant Izzet Baysal University School of Medicine, Bolu, Turkey. zehraasuk@hotmail.com.
authors: Z
authors: Z
authors: Yasar
authors: M
authors: M
authors: Buyuksirin
authors: F D
authors: FD
authors: Ucsular
authors: A
authors: A
authors: Kargı
authors: F
authors: F
authors: Erdem
authors: F
authors: F
authors: Talay
authors: O K
authors: OK
authors: Kurt
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008214:Lymphocytes / Q000378:metabolism*; D008297:Male; D024821:Metabolic Syndrome / Q000097:blood* / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology; D008875:Middle Aged; D009504:Neutrophils / Q000378:metabolism*; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D029424:Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive / Q000097:blood* / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology; D012189:Retrospective Studies