Associations between a protective lifestyle behaviour score and biomarkers of chronic low-grade inflammation: a cross-sectional analysis in middle-to-older aged adults

Background/objectives Certain lifestyle behaviours may have a protective effect against low-grade systemic inflammation, which is linked to chronic disease. Our objective was to examine associations between a five-component protective lifestyle behaviour (PLB) score and a range of pro-inflammatory cytokines, adipocytokines, acute-phase response proteins, coagulation factors and white blood cells. Subjects/methods This was a cross-sectional study of 2045 middle-to-older aged men and women. Low-risk behaviours included never smoking, moderate alcohol intake, moderate-to-vigorous physical activity, a high-quality diet (upper 40% Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension score) and a normal body mass index (BMI) (18.5-24.9 kg/m(2)). Linear and logistic regression analyses tested individual protective behaviour and PLB score associations with biomarkers. Results Analysis of individual low-risk behaviours revealed varied associations depending on the biomarker, with normal BMI showing the most consistent associations. Examination of the PLB score showed that compared to subjects with 4-5 protective behaviours, those with 0-1 protective behaviours had 1.4-3.8 increased odds of having a less favourable inflammatory profile. Following adjustment for BMI, significant trend relationships were observed between the number of protective behaviours and complement component 3 (P < 0.001), c-reactive protein (P < 0.001), interleukin 6 (P < 0.001), tumour necrosis factor alpha (P < 0.001) and white blood cell count (P < 0.001) concentrations. Conclusions These results suggest a cumulative protective effect of healthy lifestyle behaviours against systemic inflammation in middle-to-older aged adults which is independent of having a healthy body weight.

Automated summary

This study found that healthy lifestyle behaviors can have a protective effect against systemic inflammation in middle-to-older aged adults, independent of body weight. Maintaining a normal body mass index showed the most consistent associations with biomarkers.