Early life, life course and gender influences on levels of C-reactive protein among migrant Bangladeshis in the UK

Exploring the Relationship Between Stress, Salivary C-Reactive Protein, and Embodied Physiological Responses in a Nigerian Population

OBJECTIVES

The impacts of stress on inflammation, although hypothesized, have not been thoroughly examined, especially in relation to social and environmental factors and particularly within Black populations. This study aims to explore the biological mechanisms of embodiment linking stress and health to understand physiological changes in the body's response to psychological stress in a Nigerian population. Through a multidisciplinary approach, this study queries the relationship between stress, cortisol, and salivary C-reactive protein (sCRP), a biomarker of inflammation, while also validating the use of sCRP as a potential and accurate stress indicator in the field.

METHODS

In this cross-sectional study, 138 passive drool saliva samples (n female = 89 n male = 49) were collected and assessed for sCRP and cortisol levels in adults. Participants also completed a short demographic survey and, to measure psychological stress, the General Health Questionnaire 12 (GHQ-12). Relationships between sCRP and stress-related variables (i.e., cortisol, GHQ-12, and demographic data) were assessed using Spearman's correlations, simple regression, multivariable linear regression, and exploratory factor analysis.

RESULTS

sCRP levels ranged from 20.57 to 6879.41 pg/mL across all samples, with significant differences between female and male participants. The GHQ-12 was not a significant predictor of sCRP variability. However, socio-demographic factors such as body mass index (BMI), age, self-reported sex, ethnic identity, and cortisol were significant predictors, collectively explaining 24%-27% of the variation in sCRP.

CONCLUSION

Socio-demographic predictors like BMI, age, sex, and particularly ethnic group experience in Nigeria encapsulate aspects of embodied stress, that significantly affect sCRP variability.

Three common assumptions about inflammation, aging, and health that are probably wrong

Chronic inflammation contributes to the onset and progression of cardiovascular disease and other degenerative diseases of aging. But does it have to? This article considers the associations among inflammation, aging, and health through the lens of human population biology and suggests that chronic inflammation is not a normal nor inevitable component of aging. It is commonly assumed that conclusions drawn from research in affluent, industrialized countries can be applied globally; that aging processes leading to morbidity and mortality begin in middle age; and that inflammation is pathological. These foundational assumptions have shifted focus away from inflammation as a beneficial response to infection or injury and toward an understanding of inflammation as chronic, dysregulated, and dangerous. Findings from community-based studies around the world-many conducted in areas with relatively high burdens of infectious disease-challenge these assumptions by documenting substantial variation in levels of inflammation and patterns of association with disease. They also indicate that nutritional, microbial, and psychosocial environments in infancy and childhood play important roles in shaping inflammatory phenotypes and their contributions to diseases of aging. A comparative, developmental, and ecological approach has the potential to generate novel insights into the regulation of inflammation and how it relates to human health over the life course.