Complete Blood Count-Derived Inflammatory Indices in Prediabetes: A Head-to-Head Comparison

Authors:
Open Access
Publisher website
Google Scholar
Abstract
Background: Chronic low-grade inflammation contributes to early glucose dysregulation, but comparative evidence on complete blood count-derived inflammatory indices in prediabetes remains limited. This study aimed to compare the associations of five complete blood count-derived inflammatory indices with prediabetes and to assess their discriminative performance. Methods: In this retrospective cross-sectional study, 255 adults (128 with prediabetes and 127 with normoglycemia) were identified from 12,540 individuals screened at the internal medicine outpatient clinics of a university hospital. The neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio, platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio, monocyte-to-lymphocyte ratio, systemic immune-inflammation index, and systemic inflammation response index were compared between groups. Adjusted logistic regression, hierarchical regression, and receiver operating characteristic curve analyses were performed. Results: All indices except the monocyte-to-lymphocyte ratio were significantly higher in the prediabetes group (all p < 0.001). Among the evaluated indices, the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio showed the strongest association with prediabetes, with the largest standardized odds ratio (2.691; 95% confidence interval, 1.839–3.938) and the highest explanatory power (Nagelkerke R2 = 0.326). Its addition to the base model significantly improved model fit (likelihood ratio χ2 = 33.62, p < 0.001), and the association remained significant after adjustment for body mass index, C-reactive protein, and lipid parameters. It also yielded the highest area under the curve (0.714). Conclusions: In this cross-sectional analysis, the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio showed the most robust independent association with prediabetes among the evaluated complete blood count-derived inflammatory indices. However, the overall discriminative performance was modest, supporting the use of these indices as adjunctive rather than standalone screening markers.

This publication has 21 references indexed in Scilit: