Cohort | Healthy control | SLE (all) | SLE NLR high* | SLE NLR low | P value† |
Number of individuals | 79 | 141 | 63 | 78 | |
Age, median (range) | 48 (20–81) | 48 (20–81) | 45 (20–74) | 51 (20–81) | 0.27 |
Gender, % (female) | 87 | 87 | 87 | 87 | 1.00 |
Ethnicity, % (white) | 99 | 96 | 96 | 95 | 1.00 |
Disease duration, median (range) | 11 (0–46) | 12 (0–36) | 10 (0–46) | 0.59 | |
SLEDAI, median (range) | 2 (0–18) | 2 (0–16) | 0 (0–18) | 0.10 | |
SLEDAI (active)‡, % | 56 | 67 | 47 | 0.03 | |
Immunosuppression§, % | 48 | 60 | 38 | 0.01 | |
Hydroxychloroquine, % | 73 | 73 | 72 | 1.00 | |
Prednisone 0 mg/day, % | 33 | 19 | 44 | 0.002 | |
Prednisone 1–5 mg/day, % | 44 | 56 | 34 | 0.02 | |
Prednisone 6–10 mg/day, % | 16 | 19 | 14 | 0.50 | |
Prednisone >10 mg/day, % | 7 | 6 | 8 | 1.00 | |
Anti-dsDNA current, % | 14 | 17 | 12 | 0.34 | |
Anti-dsDNA ever, % | 61 | 73 | 53 | 0.02 | |
Nephritis current, % | 11 | 10 | 12 | 0.79 | |
Nephritis ever, % | 35 | 41 | 29 | 0.16 |
Bold indicates statistically significant difference.
*NLR high is defined as above the 90th percentile of healthy individuals.
†Comparison between SLE NLR low and SLE NLR high using Mann-Whitney U test and Fisher’s exact test as applicable.
‡Active disease was defined as SLEDAI >0.
§Immunosuppressive treatment includes azathioprine (n=32), mycophenolate (n=20), methotrexate (n=13), ciclosporin (n=2) and rituximab (n=2).
anti-dsDNA, antidouble-stranded DNA; NLR, neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio; SLEDAI, Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Disease Activity Index.