Neutrophil/lymphocyte and platelet/lymphocyte ratios in all mood states of bipolar disorder

Objectives: This study aims at researching the inflammatory cells and their ratios as inflammation markers in different phases of patients with bipolar disorder (BD).

Methods: In this retrospective study, 79 manic, 61 depressed, 59 euthymic drug-naive patients with BD, and 86 control subjects have been evaluated for their complete blood count.

Results: Neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio (NLR) was found to be significantly higher in manic, euthymic, and depressed patients with BD compared to control group. However, no difference was found between all patient and control groups regarding platelet/lymphocyte ratio (PLR). There was no difference among different phases of patient groups in terms of NLR and PLR.

Conclusions: Our findings suggest that inflammatory process may have a role in all mood episodes of BD and NLR may be a useful trait inflammation marker for BD independent of mood episodes. However, further studies need to be conducted on the effect of inflammatory mechanisms on mood states of BD.