Vascular Surgery Patients with Elevated Neutrophil Lymphocyte Ratios Have Downregulated Neutrophil Complement RNA Expression

Elevated NLR (neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio) in elective vascular surgery (EVS) patients is associated with increased mortality independent of perioperative surgical outcome. To understand why high NLR is associated with higher mortality, we investigated neutrophil and lymphocyte transcriptome expression in patients undergoing EVS. Overall design: Blood samples were collected from patients undergoing EVS and healthy donors for NLR calculation. RNAs were isolated and from subjects' isolated neutrophils and lymphocytes. Patients were divided into NLR_Low (<3) and NLR_High (=3) groups (n=6 each).