Abstract
BACKGROUND: It is known that platelets play an important role in inflammatory diseases. Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a chronic, itchy, recurrent inflammatory skin disease that affects 2%-30% of the population, especially in childhood. AIMS: We investigated the role of platelet count and mean platelet volume (MPV) as biomarkers in children with AD. METHODS: This cross-sectional retrospective study examined the medical reports of patients who were referred to the Pediatric Allergy and Immunology Outpatient Clinic of the Medical Faculty Hospital, Istanbul Biruni University and the Pediatric Immunology and Allergy Diseases Outpatient Clinics of the Izmir S.B.U Tepecik Training and Research Hospital, for AD. A total of 167 children with AD and 170 healthy children were included in the study. RESULTS: Among all participants, 36.5% (n = 61) and 31.8% (n = 54) were female in the patient and control groups, respectively. The mean age was 2.8 ± 2.8 and 3.3 ± 2.5 years in the patient and control groups, respectively. MPV was statistically significantly higher in the patient group than in the control group (P =0.003). Mean platelet to neutrophil ratio and mean absolute lymphocyte count values were significantly higher in the patient group (P <.0001 for both values). However, the mean absolute neutrophil count was lower in the patient group than in the control group and it was considered statistically significant (P <.0001). CONCLUSION: In conclusion, we found significantly higher platelet counts in patients with AD. The decrease in the neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio rate was remarkable. However, there was no significant difference in the MPV values between the patient and control groups.