Aim of the study: To examine possible features of neuroinflammation in progressive supranuclear palsy - Richardson syndrome and corticobasal syndrome (CBS).
Clinical rationale for the study: Neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) is a parameter reflecting inflammation used in numerous branches of medicine. The search for pathogenesis of the diseases partly related to inflammatory processes confirms the need to obtain possible factors which could be relatively easily verified. NLR is a benchmark routinely evaluated in most hospitalised patients.
Materials and methods: 23 patients with a clinical diagnosis of PSP-RS, 18 patients with CBS, and 32 healthy controls, were included in the study. Blood samples were assessed in the context of neutrophil and lymphocyte rates. Subsequently, the results were transformed into neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR). The NLRs from each group were statistically assessed using a Kruskal-Wallis test and post-hoc analysis.
Results: Statistical analysis confirmed significant differences in NLR between PSP-RS and control group. No other significant differences were observed.
Clinical implications: The possible use of NLR in the additional examination of atypical parkinsonisms.
Conclusions: To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study comparing this aspect of neuroinflammation in PSP and CBS. It presents NLR as a promising non-specific parameter in neurodegenerative diseases.
Keywords: CBS; NLR; PSP; corticobasal degeneration; progressive supranuclear palsy.