title: Diverging trajectory patterns of systemic versus vascular inflammation over age in healthy Caucasians and African-Americans.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Age and inflammation are risk factors for cardiovascular disease but the impact of inflammation on cardiovascular risk across the lifespan is not understood. We investigated whether an inflammatory burden is modulated by age in healthy subjects.
  
  
  METHODS
  Caucasian and African-American families were recruited from the general population (age range: 6-74 years, n = 267). Systemic inflammation was assessed by C-reactive protein (CRP), serum amyloid A (SAA), fibrinogen, haptoglobin and α-acid glycoprotein, and vascular inflammation was assessed by pentraxin-3 (PTX-3), soluble intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (sICAM-1) and soluble vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (sVCAM). To collectively assess systemic or vascular factors across the age spectrum, a composite z-score for each marker category was calculated.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There was a contrasting pattern in systemic versus vascular inflammatory burden over age with an increase in systemic but a decrease in vascular markers in both ethnic groups. The results remained unchanged after adjustments for the covariates and covariance. When looking at individual markers to examine which markers are most contributing factors to the composite scores, CRP and SAA were significantly and positively associated with age, while PTX-3 and sVCAM were significantly and negatively associated with age in both ethnic groups.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The composite z-score for systemic inflammation increased with age, while the composite z-score for vascular inflammation declined with age, irrespective of ethnicity. The findings illustrate a regulatory relationship between age and inflammation, and suggest that a perceived elevation of vascular markers among the very young may be an indication of physiological changes rather than reflecting a disease process.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, University of California, Davis, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Byambaa
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Enkhmaa
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, University of California, Davis, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Erdembileg
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Anuurad
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, University of California, Davis, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health Sciences, University of California, Davis, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Kyoungmi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, University of California, Davis, CA, USA.|Veterans Affairs Northern California Health Care System, Sacramento, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Lars
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Berglund
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001741:Black or African American; D017677:Age Distribution; D000367:Age Factors; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D002140:California / Q000453:epidemiology; D002648:Child; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D054624:Health Status Disparities; D064368:Healthy Volunteers; D006801:Humans; D007249:Inflammation / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000208:ethnology*; D018836:Inflammation Mediators / Q000097:blood; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011379:Prognosis; D012307:Risk Factors; D013997:Time Factors; D014657:Vasculitis / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000208:ethnology*; D044465:White People
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D018836:Inflammation Mediators
keywords: Composite score; Ethnicity; General population; Inflammatory biomarkers