Dear Editor,
We would like to thank the editor for the opportunity to respond to the letter concerning our manuscript on Neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio, lymphocyte to monocyte ratio and platelet to lymphocyte ratio to predict the severity of COVID-19 [1].
In our study, PLR (p = 0.0001) and NLR (p = 0.001) remained significantly higher in the patients with confirmed Sars CoV-2 infection. By contrast, eosinophil (p = 0.0001), lymphocyte (p = 0.0001), platelet levels (p = 0.0001) were calculated as significantly higher in those with negative Sars CoV-2 test results. Therefore, it means that lymphocyte levels decreased more than platelet levels. Further research could be performed by utilizing the systemic inflammation response index (SIRI = neutrophil × monocyte-to-lymphocyte ratio) to see the results [2].
We agree with you that our study, as you also mentioned, may be an inspiration for future research focusing on whether neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio, lymphocyte to monocyte ratio, and platelet to lymphocyte ratio has true potential as explanatory factors and even diagnostic potential in predicting the severity of COVID-19.
In our manuscript, we have also addressed the points emphasized above. Thank you for your review. We do not have an additional comment.
Compliance with ethical standards
Pamukkale University Faculty of Medicine Ethics Committee was approved the study.
Financial disclosure
No financial disclosure was declared by the authors.
Declaration of Competing Interest
The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest and no grants or funds were received in this study.
References
- 1.Seyit M., Avci E., Nar R., Senol H., Yilmaz A., Ozen M., et al. Neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio, lymphocyte to monocyte ratio and platelet to lymphocyte ratio to predict the severity of COVID-19. Am J Emerg Med. 2020 Dec 6 doi: 10.1016/j.ajem.2020.11.058. (S0735-6757(20)31086-X). (Epub ahead of print. PMID: 33309506; PMCID: PMC7719281) [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 2.Qu R., Ling Y., Zhang Y.H., Wei L.Y., Chen X., Li X.M., et al. Platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio is associated with prognosis in patients with coronavirus disease-19. J Med Virol. 2020;92:1533–1541. doi: 10.1002/jmv.25767. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]