Assessing the relationship between suicidality and inflammatory biomarkers: C-reactive protein/albumin and neutrophil/albumin ratios in an inpatient setting

Abstract

Background Suicidality is a significant public health concern with multifactorial etiologies, including psychological, environmental, and biological factors. Emerging evidence suggests a strong association between inflammatory processes and suicidality. This study aims to investigate the relationship between suicidality and inflammatory biomarkers in psychiatric inpatients. Methods This retrospective cross-sectional study included female psychiatric inpatients aged 18-65 years admitted to the Psychiatry Department of Goztepe Prof. Dr. Suleyman Yalcin City Hospital between 2022 and 2024. Inflammatory biomarkers, including C-reactive protein (CRP), albumin, neutrophils, lymphocytes, monocytes, platelets, and red cell distribution width (RDW), mean platelet volume (MPV) were analyzed. Additionally, neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), monocyte-to-lymphocyte ratio (MLR), platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR), CRP-to-albumin ratio (CAR), and neutrophil-to-albumin ratio (NAR) were calculated. Results The analysis revealed no statistically significant differences between patients with suicidality (including both suicide ideation and history of suicide attempts) and the non-suicidality group in terms of MPV, RDW, NLR, MLR, PLR, CAR or NAR values, with all parameters showing p > 0.05. Conclusions The absence of statistically significant differences in inflammatory markers suggests that these biomarkers may not be robust indicators of suicidality in this sample. Further research with larger, more diverse populations is warranted to clarify the potential role of inflammation in suicidality.