Correlation between the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio and enlarged perivascular spaces in type 2 diabetes mellitus.

AIMS: To determine the relationship between the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio and enlarged perivascular spaces in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus.

MATERIALS AND

METHODS

Cranial magnetic resonance imaging data from 200 patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus were analyzed to categorize enlarged perivascular spaces in the basal ganglia and centrum semiovale (CSO) by severity. Mild and moderate-to-severe enlarged perivascular spaces groups were compared.

RESULTS

The neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) was notably elevated in the moderate-to-severe group compared with the mild group, for both basal ganglia (BG) (P < 0.01) and CSO (P < 0.01) enlarged perivascular spaces. Spearman analyses demonstrated strong positive correlations between the NLR and the severity of both BG (r = 0.545, P < 0.001) and CSO (r = 0.440, P < 0.001) enlarged perivascular spaces. Binary logistic regression analysis identified the NLR as an independent risk factor for BG (P < 0.01) and CSO (P < 0.01) enlarged perivascular spaces in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus. Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis demonstrated that the NLR had an area under the curve of 0.824 for predicting moderate-to-severe BG enlarged perivascular spaces and 0.768 for predicting moderate-to-severe CSO enlarged perivascular spaces.

CONCLUSIONS

The NLR independently predicts moderate-to-severe BG and CSO enlarged perivascular spaces in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus and exhibits diagnostic accuracy for cerebral small vessel disease.