IntroductionPeripheral inflammatory responses are suggested to play a major role in the pathophysiology of Parkinson’s disease (PD). The neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), a new recognized biomarker, can reflect peripheral inflammation in PD. However, the association between the NLR and dopaminergic degeneration in PD remains unclear.MethodsIn this retrospective study, 101 enrolled PD patients were categorized into early-stage and advanced-stage PD based on the Hoehn and Yahr (HY) scale. We evaluated the clinical characteristics, peripheral immune profile, and 11C-CFT striatal dopamine transporter (DAT) binding levels. Linear regression analyses were employed to assess the associations between NLR and striatal DAT levels at different stages in PD patients.ResultsCovariate-controlled regression analysis revealed that higher NLR was significantly associated with lower DAT levels in the caudate (β = −0.27, p = 0.003) and the putamen (β = −0.27, p = 0.011). Moreover, in the early-stage PD subgroup, a similar association was observed (caudate: β = −0.37, p = 0.013; putamen: β = −0.45, p = 0.005). The lymphocytes count was correlated positively with the striatal DAT levels in the Spearman correlation analysis whether in total patients (caudate: ρ = 0.25, p = 0.013; putamen: ρ = 0.22, p = 0.026) or in the early-stage subgroup (caudate: ρ = 0.31, p = 0.023, putamen: ρ = 0.34, p = 0.011).ConclusionDopaminergic degeneration is associated with peripheral inflammation in PD. The NLR, a widely used inflammatory marker, may have the potential to reflect the degree of dopaminergic degeneration in individuals with early-stage PD.

中文翻译：

---

帕金森病多巴胺能变性与中性粒细胞/淋巴细胞比值的关联分析

外周炎症反应被认为在帕金森病 (PD) 的病理生理学中发挥着重要作用。中性粒细胞与淋巴细胞比率（NLR）是一种新的公认的生物标志物，可以反映帕金森病的周围炎症。然而，NLR与PD多巴胺能变性之间的关系仍不清楚。方法在这项回顾性研究中，根据Hoehn和Yahr（HY）量表将101例入组的PD患者分为早期和晚期PD。我们评估了临床特征、外周免疫特征和 11C-CFT 纹状体多巴胺转运蛋白 (DAT) 结合水平。采用线性回归分析评估PD患者不同阶段NLR与纹状体DAT水平之间的关联。结果协变量控制回归分析显示，较高的NLR与较低的尾状核DAT水平显着相关（β = -0.27，p= 0.003) 和壳核 (β = -0.27,p= 0.011）。此外，在早期 PD 亚组中，观察到类似的关联（尾状核：β = -0.37，p= 0.013；壳核：β = -0.45，p= 0.005）。在 Spearman 相关分析中，无论是在总患者中，淋巴细胞计数与纹状体 DAT 水平呈正相关（尾状核：ρ = 0.25，p= 0.013；壳核：ρ = 0.22，p= 0.026）或在早期亚组（尾状核：ρ = 0.31，p= 0.023，壳核：ρ = 0.34，p= 0.011）。结论多巴胺能变性与PD周围炎症有关。 NLR 是一种广泛使用的炎症标志物，可能有可能反映早期 PD 个体多巴胺能变性的程度。