Hemogram and inflammatory indices in pain-free periods in migraine patients without aura.

Objectives: Since neurogenic inflammation and hemoconcentration have a prominent role in the pathophysiology of migraine, evaluation of hemogram parameters and indices showing inflammation can yield important information. In this study, we have investigated blood cell counts and ratios, systemic inflammation index (SII), systemic inflammation response index (SIRI) and red cell index (RCI) in the painless periods between pain attacks in patients with episodic migraine without aura.

Methods: Hemogram data of both 309 patients diagnosed with migraine without aura related to pain-free periods and 199 healthy individuals were retrospectively retrieved from hospital records. Data related to erythrocyte, leukocyte, lymphocyte, platelet, monocyte, eosinophil counts; hemoglobin, hematocrit, mean corpuscular volume, red blood cell distribution width (RDW), mean platelet volume (MPV), neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio, platelet/lymphocyte ratio, monocyte/lymphocyte ratio (MLR), and neutrophil/monocyte ratio, SII, SIRI and RCI values were scanned to reveal intergroup differences in terms of these parameters.

Results: A comparison of laboratory parameters revealed that certain indices differed significantly between the migraine and control groups. MLR (p = 0.005) and RDW (p < 0.001) values were significantly lower, while platelet (p = 0.016), MPV (p < 0.001) and hematocrit (p = 0.014) were significantly higher in the migraine patient group compared to the control group. There was no significant difference between the two groups regarding other parameters.

Discussion: Higher hematocrit, platelet, mean platelet volume and lower monocyte/lymphocyte ratio values in this study support that hemoconcentration and chronic inflammation persist even in the absence of pain attacks in migraine patients without aura.