Study of Some Hematological and Biochemical Parameters among Children with Asthma Attending Brak General Hospital in Brak Al-Shatti

Abstract

Background: Asthma is a chronic respiratory disease characterized by airway inflammation and hyperresponsiveness, with recurrent symptoms that may lead to repeated medical visits. In resource-limited settings, pulmonary function testing and advanced biomarkers may not be consistently available, increasing the value of simple and affordable laboratory indicators. This study evaluated the potential significance of selected complete blood count (CBC) parameters and derived inflammatory indices in children with asthma. Methods: A comparative cross-sectional study was conducted at Brak General Hospital, Libya, between December 2023 and January 2024. Sixty-seven children aged 2–14 years were included, with a mean age of 7.32 ± 3.364 years; 50 had asthma and 17 were clinically healthy controls. CBC and C-reactive protein (CRP) were measured in both groups, and asthma control was assessed in the patient group using the Asthma Control Test. Results: Several hematological and inflammatory parameters differed significantly between children with asthma and healthy controls. The asthma group showed higher white blood cell (8.00 ± 3.56 vs 5.06 ± 0.86; p < 0.001) and neutrophil counts (4.89 ± 3.09 vs 1.93 ± 0.43; p < 0.001) and increased inflammatory indices related to neutrophils and platelets, including the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (2.43 ± 1.89 vs 0.77 ± 0.22; p < 0.001) and the systemic immune-inflammation index (823.28 ± 603.7 vs 256.40 ± 89.61; p < 0.001). Conclusions: These findings indicate that routinely available blood parameters may provide supportive information about inflammatory status in pediatric asthma. However, these markers are nonspecific and should not be used alone to establish the diagnosis.