ABSTRACT

Biological and epidemiological evidence has linked early-life psychosocial stress with late-life health, with inflammation as a potential mechanism. We report here the association between familial death in childhood and adulthood and increased levels of high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (CRP), a marker of systemic inflammation. The Cache County Memory Study is a prospective study of persons initially aged 65 and older in 1995. In 2002, there were 1,955 persons in the study with data on CRP (42.3 percent male, mean [SD] age = 81.2 [5.8] years), linked with objective data on family member deaths. Using logistic regression, high (> 10 mg/L) versus low (≤ 10 mg/L) CRP was regressed on cumulative parental, sibling, spouse, and offspring deaths during childhood and during early adulthood, adjusted for family size in each period (percentage family depletion; PFD). Findings revealed PFD during childhood to be significantly associated with CRP (OR = 1.02, 95% CI [1.01, 1.04]). Individuals with two or more family deaths were 79 percent more likely to have elevated CRP than those with zero family deaths (OR = 1.79, 95% CI [1.07, 2.99]). Early adulthood PFD was not related to CRP. This study demonstrates a link between significant psychosocial stress in early life and immune-inflammatory functioning in late life, and suggests a mechanism explaining the link between early-life adversity and late-life health.

摘要

生物和流行病学证据已将早期的社会心理压力与后期的健康状况联系在一起，而炎症是潜在的机制。我们在此报告了儿童期和成年期的家族性死亡与高敏C反应蛋白（CRP）（系统性炎症的标志物）水平升高之间的关联。凯奇县记忆研究是对1995年最初年龄在65岁以上的人的一项前瞻性研究。2002年，该研究中有1,955人，其中包含CRP数据（男性占42.3％，平均[ SD]年龄= 81.2 [5.8]岁），以及有关家庭成员死亡的客观数据。使用logistic回归分析，在儿童期和成年早期的累积父母，兄弟姐妹，配偶和后代的死亡中，高（> 10 mg / L）与低（≤10 mg / L）CRP进行了回归，并根据每个时期的家庭规模进行了调整（家庭消耗百分比； PFD）。研究结果表明，儿童期PFD与CRP显着相关（OR = 1.02，95％CI [1.01，1.04]）。有两个或更多家庭死亡的人比没有家庭死亡零的人发生CRP的可能性高79％（OR = 1.79，95％CI [1.07，2.99]）。成年早期的PFD与CRP无关。这项研究证明了早期的重大社会心理压力与晚期的免疫炎症功能之间的联系，