Pascale MM, Frongillo F, Vasta P, Massimiani G, Nure E, Agnes S. Significance of the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio and the platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio as prognostic predictors after liver transplantation. World J Transplant 2025; 15(2): 100157 [DOI: 10.5500/wjt.v15.i2.100157]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Marco Maria Pascale, MD, General Surgery and Liver Transplantation Unit, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli IRCCS, 8 largo A Gemelli, Rome 00168, Italy. marcomaria.pascale@policlinicogemelli.it
Research Domain of This Article
Transplantation
Article-Type of This Article
Retrospective Study
Open-Access Policy of This Article
This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
World J Transplant. Jun 18, 2025; 15(2): 100157 Published online Jun 18, 2025. doi: 10.5500/wjt.v15.i2.100157
Significance of the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio and the platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio as prognostic predictors after liver transplantation
Marco Maria Pascale, Francesco Frongillo, Pierangelo Vasta, Giuseppe Massimiani, Erida Nure, Salvatore Agnes
Marco Maria Pascale, Francesco Frongillo, Erida Nure, Salvatore Agnes, General Surgery and Liver Transplantation Unit, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli IRCCS, Rome 00168, Italy
Pierangelo Vasta, Giuseppe Massimiani, Department of Surgery, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli IRCCS, Rome 00168, Italy
Author contributions: Pascale MM, Vasta P, and Massimiani G generated conceptualization; Pascale MM contributed to methodology, data curation, and funding acquisition, and wrote the original draft; Massimiani G prepared software; Nure E performed validation and investigation; Frongillo F performed formal analysis and visualization; Vasta P and Massimiani G contributed to resources; Agnes S supervised reviewed and edited the draft; and all authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.
Institutional review board statement: The study was conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki and the principles of the Good Clinical Practice guidelines. The study was approved by Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli IRCCS Ethics Committee.
Informed consent statement: All study participants, or their legal guardian, provided informed written consent prior to study enrollment.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
Data sharing statement: The data used to support the findings of this study are included in the article. The raw data are available for consultation.
Open Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Marco Maria Pascale, MD, General Surgery and Liver Transplantation Unit, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli IRCCS, 8 largo A Gemelli, Rome 00168, Italy. marcomaria.pascale@policlinicogemelli.it
Received: August 8, 2024 Revised: December 20, 2024 Accepted: January 21, 2025 Published online: June 18, 2025 Processing time: 196 Days and 23.7 Hours
Core Tip
Core Tip: The neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and neutrophil-to-platelet ratio (NPR) are emerging biomarkers used to predict early outcomes following liver transplantation. Elevated NLR indicates systemic inflammation, which can signal complications like infection or rejection. High NPR values can reflect underlying inflammation and potential vascular complications. Both ratios are calculated from routine blood tests, making them cost-effective and readily available. Studies suggest that higher pre-transplant NLR and NPR levels are associated with increased risk of poor graft function, longer hospital stays, and mortality. Monitoring these ratios helps in identifying at-risk patients, guiding post-operative care, and improving overall transplant success.
