Prognostic value of the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio in patients with acute-on-chronic liver failure

Objectives: The neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) is a novel inflammation index that has been shown to independently predict poor clinical outcomes. We aimed to evaluate the role of NLR in the prediction of 3-month mortality in patients with acute-on-chronic liver failure (AoCLF). Methods: One hundred and twenty-seven patients, including 46 patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB), 81 with AoCLF and 58 healthy controls (HCs), were enrolled in the study. All patients were followed up for 4 months. The primary end-point was in-hospital mortality at the end of 90 days. A blood sample was collected for all subjects at admission to examine liver function, renal function, international normalised ratio, C-reactive protein and neutrophil and lymphocyte counts, and NLRs were calculated. A total of six clinical chemistry and biochemical variables were analysed for potential associations with outcomes using Cox proportional hazards and multiple regression models. Results: Acute-on-chronic liver failure patients had significantly higher NLRs on admission compared with HCs and CHB patients (all p = 0.001). Patients with elevated NLRs were associated with increased severity of liver disease and 3-month mortality rates. According to multivariate analysis, only NLR was an independent predictor for mortality (p = 0.025). Conclusions: The NLR measured at admission can serve as an independent predictor for 3-month mortality rate in AoCLF patients.