Association of inflammatory markers andmultimorbidity in young adults: cross-sectionalfindings from the Pelotas (Brazil) birth cohort, 1993

Abstract

Early diagnosis can be a beneficial factor for minimizing health risks related to multimorbidity. This study aims to assess the association of multimorbid-ity with interleukin 6 (IL-6), C-reactive protein (CRP), and adiponectin in 22-year-old participants of the Pelotas (Brazil) birth cohort. A total of 3,578 subjects had serum measurements of IL-6, CRP, and adiponectin at the 22-year-old visit. For multimorbidity evaluation, a list of 15 morbidities was used and divided into subgroups (cardiometabolic, pulmonary, allergic dis-eases, and mental disorders). The occurrence of ≥ 2 morbidities was higher in females (55.1%) than in males (45.2%). A negative association between multimorbidity and adiponectin was found in females, whereas positive as-sociations between the number of diseases and IL-6 and CRP were observed in males. For both sexes, cardiometabolic problem was the morbidity most as-sociated with the markers. The analysis for isolated diseases identified dyslip-idemia was the only cardiometabolic condition associated with physiological markers. Our findings suggest an inverse association between multimorbidity and adiponectin in females, as well as a direct cumulative association between the number of diseases and IL-6 and CRP in males at a young age.