Leukocyte activity for the evaluation of inflammatory status in cases with neovascular age-related macular degeneration.

Purpose: To investigate systemic leukocyte activity in patients with neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nAMD). Materials and Methods: Venous blood samples were obtained from 82 patients with nAMD (study group) and 86 age and sexmatched control individuals (control group). Demographics as well as complete blood count (CBC) parameters including white blood cell (WBC), neutrophil, lymphocyte, monocyte, and platelet counts were noted for each participant. Moreover, calculated results of neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio (NLR), platelet/lymphocyte ratio (PLR), and lymphocyte/monocyte ratio (LMR) were recorded for further analysis. Results: No statistically significant difference was observed between the study and control groups under consideration in terms of demographic features (p>0.05). Among all studied CBC parameters, statistically significant difference was found in LMR, WBC, and monocyte counts (p=0.039, p=0.041, and p<0.001, respectively). These results were found as 3.54±1.20, 7.54±1.59 ×10³ µL, and 0.61±0.16 ×10³ µL, in the study group and 3.92±1.20, 7.04±1.55 ×10³ µL, and 0.53±0.15 ×10³ µL, in the control group, respectively. Conclusion: Patients with nAMD have increased systemic leukocyte activity, which may be indicative of systemic inflammation in these patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]