The inflammatory score and cardiovascular risk in young adults with overweight or obesity: The African-PREDICT study

A complex relationship of adipokines and cytokines with cardiovascular risk motivates the use of an integrated approach to identify early signs of adiposity-related inflammation. We compared the inflammatory profiles, including an integrated inflammatory score, and cardiovascular profiles of young adults who are living with overweight and/or obesity (OW/OB).

This cross-sectional study included 1194 men and women with a median age of 24.5 ± 3.12 years from the African Prospective study on the Early Detection and Identification of Cardiovascular disease and Hypertension (African-PREDICT). Participants were divided into approximate quartiles based on adiposity measures (body mass index, waist circumference, and waist-to-height ratio). We compared an integrated inflammatory score (including leptin, adiponectin, interleukin-6, interleukin-8, interleukin-10, and tumour necrosis factor-α) as well as the individual inflammatory markers, between extreme quartiles. We also compared blood pressure measures, left ventricular mass index, carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity, and carotid intima-media thickness between these groups.

Individuals in the top quartile had worse inflammatory- and cardiovascular profiles as the integrated inflammatory score, leptin, interleukin-6, blood pressure measures, and left ventricular mass index were higher, while adiponectin was lower (all p ≤ 0.003). Unexpectedly, carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity was also lower (p < 0.001) in the top quartile. Exclusively in the top quartile, all adiposity measures related positively with the integrated inflammatory score and central systolic blood pressure (both r ≥ 0.24; p < 0.001), and negatively with interleukin-10 (all r ≤ -0.13; p < 0.03). Of these relationships, the correlations with the integrated inflammatory score were the strongest (p < 0.001). The percentage difference of being in the top quartile of all adiposity measures were higher for the inflammatory score (all ≥ 263 %), leptin (all ≥ 175 %), interleukin-6 (all ≥ 134 %), and tumour necrosis factor-α (all ≥ 26 %), and lower for adiponectin (all ≥ 57 %), interleukin-10 (all ≥ 9 %), and interleukin-8 (all ≥ 15 %) compared to being in the bottom quartile.

The inflammatory score, as a comprehensive marker of adiposity-related inflammation, is strongly related to adiposity and may be an indication of early cardiovascular risk in young adults; however, further work is required to establish the clinical use thereof.