PREDICTIVE VALUE OF NEUTROPHIL TO LYMPHOCYTE RATIO (NLR) IN EARLY DETECTION OF GESTATIONAL DIABETES MELLITUS (GDM) AMONG PREGNANT WOMEN IN FIRST TRIMESTER OF PREGNANCY

Background & Objective: A substantial number of pregnant women develop gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM). Various biomarkers are being used to diagnose gestational diabetes mellitus. Early detection of GDM can done by using inflammatory markers like neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and the platelet- to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR) that are rapid, inexpensive and easy to use in different clinical setting. The objective of this study was to evaluate diagnostic accuracy of raised neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio for detection of gestational diabetes mellitus taking OGTT as gold standard. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study held in Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology CMH Lahore from November, 2018 –May, 2020. After approval from hospital ethical review committee and taking an informed consent, 473 pregnant women enrolled in first trimester between age 18-35 years, fulfilling the inclusion criteria were included whereas known diabetics, patients with cardiovascular disorders, previous history of GDM were excluded. Blood samples in sterilized manner were drawn and sent to hospital laboratory for analysis of NLR. Then they were screened during 24-28 weeks of gestation for diagnosis of gestational diabetes mellitus on OGGT. The females were labelled for positive NLR and GDM as per operational definition. Diagnostic accuracy of NLR was calculated for development of gestational diabetes mellitus. Results: Mean age of females was 26.72 ± 4.90 years and mean gestational age was 15.50 ± 1.67 weeks. 94(19.9%) females who had raised neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio while 397(80.1%) females had normal neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio and there were 90(19%) females who had gestational diabetes mellitus while rests of 383(81%) did not have gestational diabetes mellitus. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value and overall diagnostic accuracy of NRL was 95.56%, 97.91%, 91.49%, 98.94% and 97.46%, respectively. Conclusion: The study concluded that raised neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio is significantly high among gestational diabetes mellitus and NLR has a high diagnostic accuracy for predicting gestational diabetes mellitus.