ORIGINAL ARTICLE Leukocyte activity for the evaluation of inflammatory status in cases with neovascular age-related macular degeneration Seher Koksaldi 1 , Elvan Yardim 2 , Taylan Ozturk 3 , Gul Arikan 4 , Ziya Ayhan 5 , Mahmut Kaya 6 , Murat Ormen 7 1- MD, Department of Ophthalmology, Mus State Hospital, Mus, Türkiye 2- MD, Department of Ophthalmology, Odemis State Hospital, Izmir, Türkiye 3- Assoc. Prof. MD, Department of Ophthalmology, Private Practice, Izmir, Türkiye 4- Prof. MD, Department of Ophthalmology, Dokuz Eylul University, Izmir, Turkey 5- Assoc. Prof. MD, Department of Ophthalmology, Dokuz Eylul University, Izmir, Turkey 6- Assoc. Prof. MD, Department of Ophthalmology, Mahmut Kaya Eye Clinic, Izmir, Turkey 7- Assoc. Prof. MD, Department of Medical Biochemistry, Dokuz Eylul University, Izmir, Turkey Received: 25.08.2022 Accepted: 22.04.2024 J Ret-Vit 2024; 33: 144-148 DOI:10.37845/ret.vit.2024.33.22 Correspondence author: Seher Koksaldi Email: seherkoksaldi@gmail.com ABSTRACT Purpose: To investigate systemic leukocyte activity in patients with neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nAMD). Materials and Methods: Venous blood samples were obtained from 82 patients with nAMD (study group) and 86 age and sex- matched control individuals (control group). Demographics as well as complete blood count (CBC) parameters including white blood cell (WBC), neutrophil, lymphocyte, monocyte, and platelet counts were noted for each participant. Moreover, calculated results of neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio (NLR), platelet/lymphocyte ratio (PLR), and lymphocyte/monocyte ratio (LMR) were recorded for further analysis. Results: No statistically significant difference was observed between the study and control groups under consideration in terms of demographic features (p>0.05). Among all studied CBC parameters, statistically significant difference was found in LMR, WBC, and monocyte counts (p=0.039, p=0.041, and p<0.001, respectively). These results were found as 3.54±1.20, 7.54±1.59 ×10 3 μL, and 0.61±0.16 ×10 3 μL, in the study group and 3.92±1.20, 7.04±1.55 ×10 3 μL, and 0.53±0.15 ×10 3 μL, in the control group, respectively. Conclusion: Patients with nAMD have increased systemic leukocyte activity, which may be indicative of systemic inflammation in these patients. Keywords: Age-related macular degeneration, inflammation, lymphocyte/monocyte ratio, neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio, platelet/ lymphocyte ratio. 144 Histopathological analyzes demonstrated that retinal pigment epithelial cell (RPE) degeneration and photoreceptor cell death are among the mechanisms in the pathogenesis of the disease. 4 Macrophages and microglia may be closely associated with degeneration of the RPE. Pigment epithelia are located in close proximity to the vascular choroid that supplies the outer retina, and migration of macrophages from the choroid to the retina in order to produce proinflammatory chemokines is a possible cause of RPE injury. Recently, it has been suggested that infiltration of M1 macrophages into the subretinal space INTRODUCTON Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a progressive degenerative disease of the macula, which leads to visual field loss and decreased visual acuity. 1 Inflammation plays a key role in the pathogenesis of various retinal diseases, including AMD. 2 Dysregulation of the innate immune system is among the factors which trigger the onset of AMD. Inflammatory cells like microglia, monocytes/macrophages, neutrophils, and tissue-resident T cells also contribute to pathophysiology. 3 Copyright © 2024 e author(s). is is an open-access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY) which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.