Pathogenic and obesogenic factors associated with inflammation in Chinese children, adolescents and adults

Abstract

Objectives Influenced by pathogen exposure and obesity, inflammation provides a critical biological pathway linking changing environments to the development of cardiometabolic disease. This study tests the relative contribution of obesogenic and pathogenic factors to moderate and acute CRP elevations in Chinese children, adolescents and adults. Methods Data come from 8795 participants in the China Health and Nutrition Study. Age-stratified multinomial logistic models were used to test the association between illness history, pathogenic exposures, adiposity, health behaviors and moderate (1-10 mg/L in children and 3-10 mg/L in adults) and acute (>10mg/L) CRP elevations, controlling for age, sex and clustering by household. Backward model selection was used to assess which pathogenic and obesogenic predictors remained independently associated with moderate and acute CRP levels when accounting for simultaneous exposures. Results Overweight was the only significant independent risk factor for moderate inflammation in children (RRR 2.10, 95%CI 1.13-3.89). History of infectious (RRR 1.28, 95%CI 1.08-1.52) and non-communicable (RRR 1.37, 95%CI 1.12-1.69) disease, overweight (RRR 1.66, 95%CI 1.45-1.89) and high waist circumference (RRR 1.63, 95%CI 1.42-1.87) were independently associated with a greater likelihood of moderate inflammation in adults while history of infectious disease (RRR 1.87, 95%CI 1.35-2.56) and overweight (RRR 1.40, 95%CI 1.04-1.88) were independently associated with acute inflammation. Environmental pathogenicity was associated with a reduced likelihood of moderate inflammation, but a greater likelihood of acute inflammation in adults. Conclusions These results highlight the importance of both obesogenic and pathogenic factors in shaping inflammation risk in societies undergoing nutritional and epidemiological transitions.

Testing hypothesized predictors of immune activation in tanzanian infants and children: Community, household, caretaker, and child effects

“…Where infectious disease load is high and energetic resources limited, immune functioning may be prioritized over growth and/or malnutrition may predispose to infection. Yet as Thompson et al () have shown in China, such tradeoffs can be masked in populations undergoing a nutritional transition, even with large numbers living in persistent poverty. Worthman and Panter‐Brick (), in their work with Nepalese children, demonstrate another way that tradeoffs may fail to transfer in the expected ways from one population to another.…”

Water, food, and the dual burden of disease in Galápagos, Ecuador

“…Individuals were considered to have NCD morbidity if they reported cardiovascular or other chronic disease symptoms. Individuals were considered to have infectious morbidity if they or their caretaker for children under 10 reported respiratory or gastrointestinal symptoms or had a C‐reactive protein levels >3 mg/L for children (Thompson, Houck, Adair, et al, ; Wander, Brindle, & O'Connor, ) and > 10 mg/L for adults (Pearson et al, ).…”

“…Since biomarkers were collected in only a subset of individuals, we used the occurrence of one or more risk factors (Table ) to categorize individuals into four groups: no risk factors, UND/ID only, OWT/NCD only, or dual burden. Individuals were considered to have UND/ID if they reported infectious symptoms, were stunted, were underweight, had iron deficiency anemia, or had acutely elevated CRP (levels >3 mg/L for children [Thompson, Houck, Adair, et al, ; Wander, Brindle, & O'Connor, ], and > 10 mg/L for adults [Pearson et al, ]). Individuals were considered to have OWT/NCD if they had one or more of the following risk factors: reported NCD symptoms, moderately elevated CRP (1‐3 mg/L in children [Skinner, Steiner, Henderson, & Perrin, ; Thompson, Houck, Adair, et al, ] or 3‐10 mg/L in adults [Pearson et al, ]), were overweight or obese, had high waist‐to‐height ratio, mean systolic or diastolic blood pressure indicative of prehypertension or hypertension, or, for adults only, impaired glucose, high Homa‐IR, high total cholesterol, high LDL cholesterol, or low HDL cholesterol.…”

“…CRP cut points for moderate and acute inflammation in children come from: Skinner, Steiner, Henderson, & Perrin, ; Thompson, Houck, Adair, et al, ; and Wander, Brindle, & O'Connor, .…”

Childhood body mass is positively associated with cesarean birth in Yucatec Maya subsistence farmers

“…While much remains unknown regarding the connection between human microbiomes and obesity (Harley and Karp, ; Walters et al, ), certain alterations in human gut microbiome profiles are associated with increased energy harvest capacity (Jumpertz et al, ; Rosenbaum et al, ). Gut microbiota also help to regulate inflammatory signaling pathways; systemic low‐grade inflammation is commonly associated with obesity and its related pathologies in mice and humans (Cani et al, ; Thompson et al, ).…”