Diagnostic and predictive role of systemic inflammatory indices in intrauterine growth restriction

Aim Inflammation is considered to play an important role in the pathogenesis of intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR). Recently, systemic inflammatory indices derived from complete blood count parameters have emerged as practical biomarkers for evaluating inflammatory status. This study aimed to investigate the diagnostic value of systemic inflammatory indices in pregnant women with IUGR. Methods This retrospective case–control study included 66 pregnant women diagnosed with IUGR and 68 healthy pregnant controls. Demographic characteristics, laboratory findings, and inflammatory indices including neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR), systemic immune–inflammation index (SII), systemic inflammation response index (SIRI), aggregate index of systemic inflammation (AISI), and systemic inflammation marker index (SIMI) were compared between the groups. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analyses were performed to evaluate diagnostic performance. Results Maternal age and gestational week were similar between the groups, whereas parity was significantly higher in the IUGR group (<em>P</em> < .001). Neutrophil and monocyte counts were significantly lower in patients with IUGR. NLR, SII, SIRI, and AISI values were also significantly decreased in the IUGR group compared with controls (all <em>P</em> = .001). ROC analysis demonstrated moderate diagnostic performance for NLR (AUC = 0.667), SII (AUC = 0.663), SIRI (AUC = 0.667), and AISI (AUC = 0.664) (all <em>P</em> < .001). PLR and SIMI were not significantly associated with IUGR. Conclusion Systemic inflammatory indices, particularly NLR, SII, SIRI, and AISI, may serve as useful and easily accessible biomarkers in the evaluation of IUGR. Further large-scale prospective studies are needed to clarify their clinical utility and underlying pathophysiological significance.