Association Between Blood PLT and RBC Related Indices and Disease Activity in Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis

Li Xue; Li Tao; Haifeng Sun; Yan Wang; Yanping Zhang; Na Lei; Zeshi Liu; Hua Zhang; Li Jin; Ting Zhang; Jing Zhang; Hao Meng; Fang Huang; Yan Geng; Ming Li

doi:10.2147/IJGM.S351505

Association Between Blood PLT and RBC Related Indices and Disease Activity in Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis

Int J Gen Med. 2022 Jan 13:15:573-581. doi: 10.2147/IJGM.S351505. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Li Xue¹, Li Tao¹, Haifeng Sun², Yan Wang¹, Yanping Zhang¹, Na Lei¹, Zeshi Liu¹, Hua Zhang¹, Li Jin¹, Ting Zhang¹, Jing Zhang¹, Hao Meng¹, Fang Huang¹, Yan Geng¹, Ming Li³

Affiliations

¹ Department of Clinical Laboratory, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, 710004, People's Republic of China.
² Third Department of Medical Oncology, Shaanxi Provincial Cancer Hospital Affiliated to Medical College of Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, 710061, People's Republic of China.
³ Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, 710061, People's Republic of China.

Abstract

Background: Platelet (PLT) and red blood cell (RBC) have been demonstrated to play a critical role in inflammatory processes. This study aimed to evaluate the association of blood PLT and RBC related parameters with the disease activity in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients, and also to investigate the role of these indices in differentiating among RA patients with different disease activity.

Methods: Clinical data from RA patients were retrospectively analyzed. RA patients were divided into inactive group and active group according to DAS28-CRP. The relationship between blood PLT and RBC counts-related indices and DAS28-CRP was detected by Spearman correlation. ROC curve was used to assess the diagnostic value of these indices in differentiating active RA from inactive RA.

Results: Active RA patients exhibited higher level of PLT counts but significantly lower levels of RBC counts, hemoglobin (Hb), red blood cells-platelet ratio (RPR) and hemoglobin-platelet ratio (HPR) compared with inactive RA. PLT counts were positively but RBC counts, Hb, RPR and HPR were negatively related with DAS28-CRP.

Conclusion: Blood PLT and RBC related indices were significantly associated with RA disease activity. These indices may be used to distinguish active RA from inactive RA.

Keywords: hemoglobin; platelets; red blood cells; rheumatoid arthritis.

Grants and funding

This study was supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 81802129) and Science and Technology Planning Project of Shaanxi Province of China (No. 2017SF-128 and No. 2020SF-260).