Relationship between neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio, mean platelet volume, and fibrosis level in patients with chronic hepatitis B

Background and Aims: Hepatitis B virus infection remains a major health problem worldwide. Although liver biopsy is the gold standard procedure for documenting liver damage in chronic hepatitis, many noninvasive tests have been investigated for the determination of liver damage. The aim of this study was to evaluate the role of mean platelet volume and neutrophil lymphocyte ratio as markers of fibrosis in patients with chronic hepatitis B. Material and Methods: The study included 44 patients with chronic hepatitis B and 33 healthy subjects as the control group. Demographic and laboratory data were recorded. Patients with chronic hepatitis B were compared with the control group. Patients with chronic hepatitis B infection were then divided into two groups, mild fibrosis and advanced fibrosis, and these two groups were compared. Results: The mean age of patients with chronic hepatitis B was 43±16 years, and the mean age of the control group was 41±19 years. The mean platelet volume was 10.6±1.2 in the chronic hepatitis B group and 9.5±0.6 in the control group. There was a statistically significant difference between the groups (p=0.0001). mean platelet volume levels of patients with mild fibrosis were significantly lower than those of patients with advanced fibrosis (respectively, 9.7±0.4, 11.5±1.2; p=0.0001). There was no statistically significant difference in the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio between the chronic hepatitis B and control groups. Receiver operating characteristic curves were used to assess advanced fibrosis in mean platelet volume and mean platelet volume. The cut-off value for the prediction of advanced fibrosis was 10.25, with a sensitivity and specificity of 86% and 99%, respectively (AUC 0.94; 95% CI; p < 0.0001). Conclusion: The present study demonstrated that mean platelet volume is increased in chronic hepatitis B, and high mean platelet volume levels may help to predict advanced fibrosis in patients with chronic hepatitis B