Liver cirrhosis is a global health issue that can develop to liver failure and liver cancer. Inflammation is a significant factor in its continuous development. Thus, we investigated the relationship between various composite inflammatory markers and cirrhosis in patients with benign liver disease through a cross-sectional study. 

Our data was derived from patients who visited the Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology for liver diseases between January 1, 2021, and January 1, 2022. We analyzed 301 patients who met the inclusion and exclusion criteria. We utilized binary logistic regression analysis to explore the correlation between composite inflammatory markers and cirrhosis. To more accurately describe the dose-response relationship of inflammatory markers significantly associated with cirrhosis, we further employed restricted cubic spline (RCS) for analysis.

After adjustment for confounding factors (gender, age and etiology), Platelet-to-Lymphocyte Ratio (PLR, P for trend: 0.001), Neutrophil-to-Platelet Ratio (NPR, P for trend: 0.012), and Platelet-to-Albumin Ratio (PAR, P for trend: <0.001) still maintain a significant correlation with cirrhosis. The results from the RCS analysis indicate PLR (P for nonlinearity =0.015), NPR (P for nonlinearity <0.001) and PAR (P for nonlinearity =0.010) had a nonlinear relationship with the odds ratio (OR) of cirrhosis, with inflection points at 117.262 for PLR, 0.034 for NPR and 4.930 for PAR. Regardless of age, PLR and PAR are significantly related to cirrhosis. Furthermore, the correlation between PAR and cirrhosis is independent of gender. The results from the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis indicated that PAR had the highest area under the curve (AUC) value of 0.734. In contrast, PLR had the lowest AUC value of 0.649. Furthermore, there was a significant statistical difference in the AUC values between PAR and PLR (P=0.006). 

PLR, NPR, and PAR all exhibit significant nonlinear associations with cirrhosis in patients with benign liver disease. Specifically, PLR and PAR are positively correlated with cirrhosis, whereas NPR is negatively correlated with it.