Abstract: Objective To investigate the relationship between platelet/lymphocyte ratio (PLR) and inflammation status in patients on maintenance hemodialysis (MHD) in order to explore a new biomarker for the inflammation status in MHD patients. Methods A total of 72 stable MHD patients treated in Beijing Tongren Hospital and 22 healthy individuals as controls were enrolled in this study. SPSS17.0 software was used for statistical analyses. PLR and other laboratory parameters were compared between MHD patients and controls. MHD patients were further divided into two groups according to the mean value of PLR. Serum high sensitivity C reactive protein (hsCRP), neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio (NLR), albumin and other parameters were compared between the two MHD patient groups. The relationship between PLR, NLR and hsCRP was assessed using Spearman correlation. Results Platelet and lymphocyte counts were significantly lower in MHD patients than in normal controls (t=5.903, P<0.001 for platelet; t=12.914, P<0.001 for lymphocyte). PLR was 116.01+41.49 in MHD patient, significantly higher than 75.31+19.44 in normal controls (t=-4.441, P<0.001). NLR and hsCRP were also higher in MHD patients than in normal controls (t=-6.731, P<0.001 for NLR; t=-2.752, P=0.008 for hsCRP). The mean value of PLR was 116 in MHD patients. Platelet count, PLR, NLR, and hsCRP were significantly higher in the MHD patients with PLR ≥116 than in the MHD patients with PLR＜116 (t=-3.676, P=0.001 for platelet; t=-9.81, P<0.001 for PLR; t=-4.114, P<0.001 for NLR; t=-2.352, P=0.022 for hsCRP); lymphocyte count was significantly lower in those with PLR ≥116 than in those with PLR＜116 (t=4.190, P<0.001). PLR was negatively correlated with lymphocyte count (r=- 0.574, P<0.001) and positively correlated with platelet count (r=0.516, P<0.001), NLR (r=0.625, P<0.001) and hsCRP (r=0.251, P=0.036) in MHD patients. Conclusion PLR may be used as a new biomarker of systemic inflam-mation status in MHD patients.

Key words: maintenance hemodialysis, platelet to lymphocyte ratio, inflammation