C-reactive protein and hormones but not IL-6 are associated to body mass index in first trimester of pregnancy.
OBJECTIVE
To investigate if body mass index (BMI) is related to inflammatory markers and hormones in early pregnancy.


METHODS
A prospective study with 190 pregnant women evaluated at 10 weeks when leptin, insulin, homeostatic model assessment-insulin resistance (HOMA-IR), C-reactive protein (CRP) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) were measured. Median and inter-quartile values of hormones and inflammatory markers are presented according to BMI quintiles. Spearman correlations and Kruskal-Wallis analysis of variance were implemented followed by Mann-Whitney post hoc pair-wise tests.


RESULTS
Leptin (P < 0.001), insulin (P = 0.005), HOMA-IR (P = 0.015), and CRP (P = 0.026) assumed higher and significantly median values as BMI quintiles increases, but no differences were observed for IL-6 (P = 0.859). Pair-wise comparisons among quintiles (Q) of BMI were significant for leptin (Q1 × Q3, Q1 × Q4, Q1 × Q5, Q2 × Q4, Q2 × Q5, Q3 × Q5), insulin (Q1 × Q5, Q2 × Q5, Q3 × Q5, Q4 × Q5) and for CRP (Q1 × Q4, Q1 × Q5, Q2 × Q5). Spearman correlation coefficients between BMI showed significant results for leptin (r (s) = 0.58, P < 0.001), insulin (r (s) = 0.19, P = 0.018), HOMA-IR (r (s) = 0.22, P = 0.007), CRP (r (s) = 0.26, P < 0.001), but not for IL-6 (r (s) = -0.06, P = 0.526). Median (mg/L) values of CRP were higher in overweight (35.26) than in normal weight women (21.28, P = 0.051).


CONCLUSIONS
The present investigation provides evidences on the positive relationship between BMI, leptin, insulin, HOMA-IR and CRP in early pregnancy. CRP but not IL-6 demonstrated a strong relation with overweight in pregnant women, as early as the tenth week.
Department of Social and Applied Nutrition, Institute of Nutrition Josué de Castro, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. kacetal@gmail.com
Gilberto
G
Kac
Juliana dos Santos
JS
Vaz
Michael Maia
MM
Schlüssel
Anibal Sanchez
AS
Moura
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002097:C-Reactive Protein / Q000378:metabolism*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006706:Homeostasis / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D007328:Insulin / Q000097:blood*; D007333:Insulin Resistance / Q000502:physiology; D015850:Interleukin-6 / Q000097:blood*; D020738:Leptin / Q000097:blood*; D011247:Pregnancy; D011261:Pregnancy Trimester, First / Q000097:blood* / Q000502:physiology; D011446:Prospective Studies; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D055815:Young Adult
D007328:Insulin; D015850:Interleukin-6; D020738:Leptin; D002097:C-Reactive Protein