Assessing clinical activity in Behçet’s disease: relationship between BDCAF score and inflammatory markers

Abstract

Objective: This study aims to evaluate the correlation between the Behçet Disease Current Activity Form (BDCAF) score, which assesses disease activity in Behçet’s disease (BD), and inflammatory markers such as erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), C-reactive protein (CRP), neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio (NLR), platelet/lymphocyte ratio (PLR), monocyte/lymphocyte ratio (MLR), red blood cell distribution width (RDW), mean platelet volume (MPV), and monocyte/high-density lipoprotein (HDL) ratio (MHR), as well as to compare these parameters between BD patients and a healthy control group.Methods: This case-control study included 55 BD patients and 35 healthy controls. Disease activity was determined using BDCAF scores. Laboratory parameters including ESR, CRP, NLR, PLR, MLR, RDW, MPV, and the monocyte/HDL ratio (MHR) were evaluated in both groups.Results: No correlation was found between the BDCAF score and ESR, CRP, NLR, PLR, MLR, MHR, RDW and MPV (p = 0.747, p = 0.741, p = 0.52, p = 0.232, p = 0.815, p = 0.605, p = 0.340, p = 0.886, respectively). ESR, CRP, MLR, and MHR were significantly higher in the BD group compared to the healthy control group, and these values had the power to distinguish the BD group from the healthy control group (p < 0.05, p = 0.003, p < 0.05, p < 0.05).Conclusion: Since the evaluated inflammatory markers did not correlate with the BDCAF score, these parameters are insufficient to assess disease activation in BD on their own. On the other hand, although MLR and MHR were not significant for disease activation, they serve as strong markers to differentiate BD from healthy controls. These findings should be supported by further contemporary studies.