Purpose: To investigate the neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio (NLR) as an indicator of inflammation in patients with age-related macular degeneration (AMD).
Methods: Patients were evaluated by a review of records. The study included 81 patients with dry AMD (group 1), 84 patients with wet AMD (group 2), and 80 healthy age- and sex-matched controls (group 3). The NLR of the patients was obtained from the hospital laboratory archive and was measured by dividing the neutrophil count by the lymphocyte count.
Results: A significant difference was found in NLR values between groups 1 and 2 (p = 0.017), groups 2 and 3 (p < 0.001), and groups 1 and 3 (p < 0.001). In correlation analyses, NLR was correlated positively with age (r = 0.22, p <0.001) and disease severity (r = 0.40, p < 0.001).
Conclusions: Patients with AMD have higher NLR compared with controls, and NLR correlates with disease severity. NLR may be used as a biomarker of inflammation in AMD.
Keywords: Age-related macular degeneration; blindness; inflammation; neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio; retinal drusen.