Table 2.
Associations between inflammatory cytokines and coronary heart disease risk markers
| Partial correlation (95% CI) with row variable or per cent difference (95% CI) compared with reference categorya |
||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Variable | n | Mean (SD) | IL-6 (ng/L) | IL-18 (ng/L) | MMP-9 (µg/L) | sCD40L (ng/L) | TNF-α (ng/L) | CRP (mg/L) |
| Demographics and lifestyle | ||||||||
| Age at survey (years) | 1514 | 52.9 (9.3) | 0.28 (0.22, 0.34) | 0.15 (0.08, 0.21) | 0.01 (−0.05, 0.08) | 0.00 (−0.07, 0.08) | −0.08 (−0.14, −0.01) | 0.24 (0.17, 0.30) |
| Sex | ||||||||
| Male | 1514 | 890 (59%) | Ref. | Ref. | Ref. | Ref. | Ref. | Ref. |
| Female | 1514 | 624 (41%) | −10% (−16%, −3%) | −16% (−19%, −12%) | −5% (−11%, 1%) | 30% (20%, 42%) | −3% (−7%, 2%) | −8% (−22%, 8%) |
| Smoking status | ||||||||
| Never/former | 1510 | 742 (49%) | Ref. | Ref. | Ref. | Ref. | Ref. | Ref. |
| Current | 1510 | 768 (51%) | 18% (9%, 26%) | 9% (5%, 14%) | 32% (25%, 40%) | 13% (4%, 23%) | 0% (−4%, 5%) | 58% (36%, 85%) |
| Alcohol consumption | ||||||||
| Never/former | 1510 | 339 (22%) | Ref. | Ref. | Ref. | Ref. | Ref. | Ref. |
| Current | 1510 | 1171 (78%) | −11% (−19%, −2%) | −2% (−8%, 3%) | 4% (−4%, 12%) | 7% (−4%, 19%) | −1% (−7%, 5%) | −12% (−28%, 8%) |
| History of diabetes | ||||||||
| No | 1370 | 1299 (95%) | Ref. | Ref. | Ref. | Ref. | Ref. | Ref. |
| Yes | 1370 | 71 (5%) | 23% (3%, 46%) | 3% (−7%, 14%) | −9% (−21%, 5%) | −8% (−23%, 11%) | −3% (−13%, 8%) | 57% (6%, 133%) |
| Socio-economic position | ||||||||
| Low | 1434 | 399 (28%) | Ref. | Ref. | Ref. | Ref. | Ref. | Ref. |
| Low/medium | 1434 | 424 (30%) | −12% (−20%, −3%) | −7% (−12%, −1%) | −3% (−11%, 5%) | −5% (−16%, 7%) | −4% (−10%, 2%) | −2% (−21%, 20%) |
| Medium | 1434 | 339 (24%) | −17% (−25%, −8%) | −8% (−14%, −2%) | −4% (−12%, 5%) | 2% (−10%, 15%) | 2% (−5%, 9%) | 2% (−20%, 29%) |
| Medium/high | 1434 | 194 (14%) | −12% (−22%, 0%) | −14% (−20%, −7%) | −11% (−20%, −1%) | −4% (−17%, 12%) | −7% (−14%, 0%) | 3% (−22%, 36%) |
| High | 1434 | 78 (5%) | −27% (−38%, −13%) | −14% (−22%, −5%) | −11% (−23%, 3%) | 4% (−16%, 29%) | −6% (−16%, 5%) | −14% (−42%, 28%) |
| Physical measurements | ||||||||
| Systolic blood pressure (mmHg) | 1512 | 134 (20) | 0.01 (−0.04, 0.06) | 0.04 (−0.01, 0.09) | −0.04 (−0.09, 0.02) | −0.03 (−0.09, 0.02) | 0.00 (−0.05, 0.06) | 0.15 (0.08, 0.22) |
| Diastolic blood pressure (mmHg) | 1513 | 83 (11) | 0.01 (−0.05, 0.06) | 0.07 (0.02, 0.12) | −0.05 (−0.11, −0.00) | −0.04 (−0.10, 0.02) | 0.03 (−0.03, 0.08) | 0.12 (0.05, 0.19) |
| Pulse rate (count/min) | 1513 | 68 (11) | 0.12 (0.07, 0.17) | 0.06 (0.01, 0.12) | 0.04 (−0.01, 0.10) | 0.01 (−0.05, 0.07) | 0.04 (−0.01, 0.10) | 0.20 (0.13, 0.27) |
| Body mass index (kg/m2) | 1505 | 25.8 (4.3) | 0.12 (0.07, 0.18) | 0.04 (−0.01, 0.10) | −0.02 (−0.08, 0.03) | −0.00 (−0.06, 0.06) | 0.08 (0.02, 0.13) | 0.30 (0.24, 0.37) |
| Lipids | ||||||||
| Total cholesterol (mmol/L) | 1509 | 6.41 (1.20) | −0.02 (−0.08, 0.03) | 0.03 (−0.03, 0.08) | 0.02 (−0.04, 0.07) | −0.01 (−0.07, 0.04) | 0.00 (−0.05, 0.06) | 0.05 (−0.02, 0.12) |
| LDL cholesterol (mmol/L) | 1479 | 4.29 (1.09) | −0.02 (−0.08, 0.03) | 0.02 (−0.03, 0.08) | 0.03 (−0.02, 0.09) | −0.01 (−0.07, 0.04) | 0.01 (−0.04, 0.07) | 0.05 (−0.02, 0.12) |
| Non-HDL cholesterol (mmol/L) | 1504 | 5.02 (1.25) | 0.02 (−0.03, 0.08) | 0.09 (0.03, 0.14) | 0.03 (−0.03, 0.08) | −0.00 (−0.06, 0.05) | 0.04 (−0.02, 0.09) | 0.13 (0.06, 0.20) |
| HDL cholesterol (mmol/L) | 1504 | 1.39 (0.41) | −0.14 (−0.19, −0.09) | −0.21 (−0.26, −0.16) | −0.03 (−0.09, 0.02) | −0.03 (−0.09, 0.02) | −0.10 (−0.16, −0.05) | −0.23 (−0.30, −0.16) |
| Loge triglycerides (loge mmol/L) | 1509 | 0.33 (0.50) | 0.11 (0.05, 0.16) | 0.20 (0.14, 0.25) | 0.03 (−0.02, 0.08) | 0.02 (−0.03, 0.08) | 0.08 (0.02, 0.13) | 0.28 (0.21, 0.34) |
| Inflammatory cytokines | ||||||||
| Loge IL-6 (loge ng/L) | 1326 | 0.73 (0.69) | — | 0.11 (0.06, 0.17) | 0.16 (0.11, 0.21) | 0.04 (−0.02, 0.09) | 0.22 (0.17, 0.27) | 0.48 (0.42, 0.54) |
| Loge IL-18 (loge ng/L) | 1336 | 5.64 (0.42) | 0.11 (0.06, 0.17) | — | 0.07 (0.02, 0.13) | 0.03 (−0.03, 0.09) | 0.17 (0.12, 0.23) | 0.18 (0.10, 0.26) |
| Loge MMP-9 (loge µg/L) | 1360 | 5.93 (0.57) | 0.16 (0.11, 0.21) | 0.07 (0.02, 0.13) | — | 0.31 (0.26, 0.37) | 0.09 (0.03, 0.14) | 0.31 (0.23, 0.38) |
| Loge sCD40L (loge ng/L) | 1181 | 8.79 (0.75) | 0.04 (−0.02, 0.09) | 0.03 (−0.03, 0.09) | 0.31 (0.26, 0.37) | — | 0.10 (0.04, 0.16) | 0.10 (0.01, 0.19) |
| Loge TNF-α (loge ng/L) | 1333 | 0.42 (0.42) | 0.22 (0.17, 0.27) | 0.17 (0.12, 0.23) | 0.09 (0.03, 0.14) | 0.10 (0.04, 0.16) | — | 0.10 (0.02, 0.17) |
| Loge CRP (loge mg/L) | 758 | 0.59 (1.14) | 0.48 (0.42, 0.54) | 0.18 (0.10, 0.26) | 0.31 (0.23, 0.38) | 0.10 (0.01, 0.19) | 0.10 (0.02, 0.17) | — |
aPartial correlation between loge levels of cytokine and continuous variables or the percentage difference in mean levels of cytokine compared with reference category for categorical variables adjusted for cohort, age, and sex.