Evaluation of systemic inflammation markers in patients with rhinitis

Rhinitis affects the majority of the population. It may generate localized nasal mucosal inflammation via allergic (AR) or nonallergic (NAR) processes, but it is unknown if this might also result in systemic inflammation, which can raise morbidity and death. Using current serum inflammatory markers, we sought to investigate systemic inflammation in patients with chronic rhinitis.

In this retrospective case–control study, we included 439 patients with newly diagnosed AR (n = 179), NAR (n = 157), and 103 healthy individuals. Inflammation-related blood parameters were collected as lymphocyte/monocyte ratio (LMR), neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio (NLR), eosinophil/neutrophil ratio (ELR), and systemic immune inflammation index (SII).

All groups were similar in terms of age, gender, and body mass index. Neutrophil counts were significantly higher both in AR and NAR groups compared to controls (4.51 ± 0.09, 4.54 ± 0.1 vs. 3.73 ± 0.1, p < 0.001). NLR (1.91 ± 0.56, 1.89 ± 0.61, 1.61 ± 0.59, p < 0.001), LMR (5.76 ± 0.17, 5.93 ± 0.17, 5.1 ± 0.15, p = 0.005), ELR (0.1335 ± 0.007, 0.0999 ± 0.006, 0.12 ± 0.009, p = 0.003), SII (533.3 ± 16.6, 558.1 ± 20.9, 479.9 ± 22.2, p = 0.035), and CRP (1.44 ± 0.09, 1.67 ± 0.09, 0.87 ± 0.04, p < 0.001) were significantly higher in AR and NAR groups than the controls, respectively. SII (r = 0.146, p = 0.007) and ELR (r = 0.254, p < 0.001) were correlated with the presence of asthma.

We found that systemic circulation of inflammatory cells was significantly increased in rhinitis with/without allergy compared to the control group. This study showed that not only AR, but also NAR triggers a systemic increase of inflammation which supports the link between rhinitis and comorbid conditions such as asthma. Therefore, effective treatment may be suggested for local inflammation and its systemic manifestations.