Objective To investigate neutrophil lymphocyte ratio (NLR) in early-stage diabetic nephropathy and its clinic significance. Methods The 145 subjects were divided into two groups:the healthy control group (n=54) and early stage diabetic nephropathy group (n=91). The numbers of neutrophils (N) and lymphocytes (L) as well as the NLR values of peripheral blood and other biochemistry index were examined. Factors of early stage diabetic nephropathy were calculated us?ing variance and logistic regression analysis. Results Creatinine(Cr), total cholesterol(TC), triglyceride(TG), LDL-C, neu?trophils number and CRP in DN group were significantly higher than those of the control group and lymphocytes numbers of DN group were significantly lower than that of the control group (P<0.05 respectively);NLR values were significantly higher in diabetic nephropathy group compared with those of healthy control group(2.52±0.57 vs 1.82±0.60,t=6.997, P<0.01). Lo?gistic regression analysis showed that the risk factors of DN include NLR, TG and total cholesterol. NLR ( P <0.001, OR=8.951, OR 95%CI:3.595-22.287) was significantly associated with DN. Conclusion High NLR values may be a predic?tive and reliable marker ofearly-stage DN.