Clustered cardiovascular risk factors are associated with inflammatory markers in adolescents.

Abstract

Background: Clusters of cardiovascular risk (CVR) factors are associated with an increased risk of developing cardiovascular diseases (CVDs). This cross-sectional study assessed the associations between classic CVR factor clusters and inflammatory markers in Brazilian adolescents. Methods: Measurements included anthropometric, clinical and biochemical parameters and selected inflammatory markers in 487 adolescents (236 boys/251 girls; 12.06 ± 1.41 years). Results: After stratifying the population by gender and adjusting for potential confounding variables, principal component analysis was performed and it produced 5 independent components in both genders: adiposity, glucose metabolism, blood pressure, high-density lipoprotein (HDL)/triacylglycerols (TG), and cholesterol/low-density lipoprotein. Glucose metabolism was inversely associated with interleukin-1β (IL-1β) in both genders ( r = –0.026; r = –0.021); blood pressure was inversely associated with tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) in girls ( r = –0.046); HDL/TG was positively associated with interleukin-6 in girls ( r = 0.012), with IL-1β ( r = 0.010) TNF-α ( r = 0.045) in boys, and inversely associated with adiponectin in both genders ( r = –0.015; r = –0.013). Conclusion: The results suggest that lipid metabolism alterations, as potential early events in the development of CVDs, have a strong link to the inflammatory process, in contrast to other clusters of risk factors.