Partner’s Perceived Social Support Influences Their Spouse’s Inflammation: An Actor–Partner Analysis

Social support has been linked to lower cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. However, most studies have examined perceived support as an intrapersonal construct. A dyadic approach to social support highlights how interdependence between individuals within relationships, including partner perceptions and interactions, can influence one’s health. This study’s overall purpose was to test actor–partner models linking perceived social support to inflammation. Ninety-four cisgender married couples completed perceived support measures and had their blood drawn for CRP and IL-6 to produce an overall inflammatory index. The primary results indicate that only a partner’s level of perceived support was related to lower inflammation in their spouse. Our sample size, although moderate for inflammatory studies, was probably not large enough to detect actor influences. These data highlight the importance of taking a dyadic perspective on modeling perceived support and its potential mechanism.

Associations Between Dietary Inflammatory Index and Sex Hormones Among 6- to 19-Year-Old Children and Adolescents in NHANES 2015–2016

ObjectivesThis study aimed to assess the relationship between dietary inflammatory index (DII) and sex steroids in children (6-11 years old) and adolescents (12-19 years old) in the U.S. National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 2015–2016.MethodsParticipants between the ages of 6-19 have 24-hour dietary intake data, serum sex hormones [total testosterone (TT), estradiol (E2)], and sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG) available data (n = 1382). The free androgen index (FAI) is calculated as TT divided by SHBG and the ratio of TT to E2 (TT/E2). The constructed puberty state is defined as high levels of steroid hormones (TT≥50 ng/dL in men, E2≥20 pg/ml in women) or onset of menarche. Multiple linear regression analysis was stratified by gender-age and gender-pubertal status groups to evaluate the association between DII and sex hormone levels.ResultsAfter adjusting for covariates, the association between consecutive DII and sex hormone indicators by gender and age group. In male adolescents, DII was always negatively associated with TT (P-trend = 0.09), FAI (P-trend = 0.03) and E2 (P-trend = 0.01), and monotonically positively associated with SHBG (P-trend = 0.02).In female adolescents, with the increase of DII, a significant positive correlation with SHBG was observed (β 0.017, 95%CI: 0.009,0.053) (Table 3). Among female adolescents, a significant negative association between DII and TT and a significant positive association between SHBG were observed in this group. Moreover, DII was positively associated with SHBG of prepubertal males and negatively associated with FAI of prepubertal females.ConclusionsDII was associated with decreased levels of certain sex steroid hormones (TT, FAI, and E2) and increased levels of SHBG in adolescents or pubertal individuals, with the associations presenting somewhat sex-dependent pattern. However, there is little evidence that there is a significant association in children or prepubertal children. Further research needs to be carried out to verify our results.

The Predictive Role of NLR, d-NLR, MLR, and SIRI in COVID-19 Mortality

(1) Background: Since its discovery, COVID-19 has caused more than 256 million cases, with a cumulative death toll of more than 5.1 million, worldwide. Early identification of patients at high risk of mortality is of great importance in saving the lives of COVID-19 patients. The study aims to assess the utility of various inflammatory markers in predicting mortality among hospitalized patients with COVID-19. (2) Methods: A retrospective observational study was conducted among 108 patients with laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 hospitalized between 1 May 2021 and 31 October 2021 at Municipal Emergency Clinical Hospital of Timisoara, Romania. Blood cell counts at admission were used to obtain NLR, dNLR, MLR, PLR, SII, and SIRI. The association of inflammatory index and mortality was assessed via Kaplan–Maier curves univariate Cox regression and binominal logistic regression. (3) Results: The median age was 63.31 ± 14.83, the rate of in-hospital death being 15.7%. The optimal cutoff for NLR, dNLR, MLR, and SIRI was 9.1, 9.6, 0.69, and 2.2. AUC for PLR and SII had no statistically significant discriminatory value. The binary logistic regression identified elevated NLR (aOR = 4.14), dNLR (aOR = 14.09), and MLR (aOR = 3.29), as independent factors for poor clinical outcome of COVID-19. (4) Conclusions: NLR, dNLR, MLR have significant predictive value in COVID-19 mortality.

The association between an energy-adjusted dietary inflammatory index and inflammation in rural and urban Black South Africans

Objective: To quantify the inflammatory potential of the diet of rural and urban Black South Africans using an adapted energy-adjusted dietary inflammatory index (AE-DII) and to investigate its relationship with inflammatory and cardio-metabolic disease risk markers. Dietary inflammatory potential has not been investigated in African populations. Design: Cross-sectional investigation. Setting: Rural and urban sites in the North West province of South Africa. Participants: 1,885 randomly selected, apparently healthy Black South Africans older than 30 years. Results: AE-DII scores ranged from –3.71 to +5.08 with a mean of +0.37. AE-DII scores were significantly higher in men (0.47±1.19) than in women (0.32±1.29), and in rural (0.55±1.29) than urban participants (0.21±1.19). Apart from its dietary constituents, AE-DII scores primarily associated with age, rural-urban status and education. Contrary to the literature, alcohol consumption was positively associated with AE-DII scores. Of the four tested inflammatory and 13 cardio-metabolic biomarkers, the AE-DII was only significantly negatively associated with albumin and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and positively with waist circumference and fasting glucose, upon full adjustment. Conclusion: Rural men consumed the most pro-inflammatory diet, and urban women the least pro-inflammatory diet. The diet of the participants was not overtly pro- or anti-inflammatory and was not associated with measured inflammatory markers. The inflammatory potential of alcohol at different levels of intake requires further research. Understanding dietary inflammatory potential in the context of food insecurity, unhealthy lifestyle practices and lack of dietary variety remains limited.

Pro-inflammatory diet, frailty and sarcopenia: a study with older people in outpatient care

Objectives: To analyze the relationship between the Dietary Inflammatory Index (DII), sarcopenia, and frailty syndrome in older people. Methods: A cross-sectional, non-probabilistic study was carried out with 135 older people, attended by a general outpatient clinic. The older people were classified in relation to sarcopenia according to the European Working Group on Sarcopenia in Older People. The frailty classification was made through self-referred questions. The calculation of the DII was made using the iOS application IF RATING®. Association analysis was performed using multiple logistic regression. Results: Of the 135 older people evaluated, 17.78% were classified as sarcopenic and 47.41% as frail. No association was observed between the most inflammatory DII and sarcopenia. Regarding frailty syndrome, older people with a more inflammatory DII were more likely to be frail (OR=3.64; 95%CI=1.24-10.70). Discussion: These results could stimulate actions to promote an anti-inflammatory diet, with a view to preventing frailty in older people.