Pro-inflammatory cytokines correlate with classical risk factors for atherosclerosis in the admixed Brazilian older women Alause Silva Pires a , Vinı ´cius Carolino Souza b , Roberta Silva Paula b , Juliana Oliveira Toledo b , Tu ´ lio Cesar Lins c , Clayton Franco Moraes a,d , Claudio Co ´ rdova a,e , Rinaldo Wellerson Pereira c,e,f , Ota ´ vio Toledo No ´ brega b,g, * a Graduation Program in Gerontology, Catholic University of Brası´lia, Brazil b Graduation Program in Health Sciences, University of Brası´lia, Brazil c Graduation Program in Molecular Pathology, University of Brası´lia, Brazil d Geriatrics Service, Hospital of the Catholic University of Brası´lia, Brazil e Graduation Program in Physical Education, Catholic University of Brası´lia, Brazil f Graduation Program in Biotechnology, Catholic University of Brası´lia, Brazil g Graduation Program in Medical Sciences, University of Brası´lia, Brazil 1. Introduction CVD have been the leading cause of death for the past 50 years, with emphasis to the atherosclerotic disease (Beaglehole & Bonita, 2008). The search of markers for vascular events in populations of different ethnic backgrounds have been carried out worldwide, and now a number of classic cardiovascular risk factors can reliably be identified in middle-aged and older adults, such as diminished levels of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-c) and augmented levels of VLDL-c, total cholesterol (TC), SBP/DBP and fasting blood sugar (Casiglia & Palatini, 1998). Nonetheless, a body of evidence remains to be built on what concerns the pathophysiological avenues of dysregulation underlying the onset of these classical risk factors, possibly rendering new markers not devised yet. Consequently, to better identify patients at a higher risk for the atherosclerotic disease, the important players need to be established, especially in aged populations and with widespread applicability. Archives of Gerontology and Geriatrics 60 (2015) 142–146 A R T I C L E I N F O Article history: Received 23 June 2014 Received in revised form 22 September 2014 Accepted 7 October 2014 Available online 16 October 2014 Keywords: Atherosclerosis Interleukin Inflammation Genetic ancestry Admixture A B S T R A C T Aim: Measurement of inflammatory markers for risk stratification of vascular disorders has been the focus of numerous investigations worldwide, and usually reveals augmented levels of circulating cytokines/ chemokines among carriers of classic risk factors for atherosclerosis. Nonetheless, this low-grade inflammatory milieu detected in aged individuals tends to be influenced by body composition. Moreover, cardiovascular risk factors have a complex genetic etiology, and disregarding the genetic heritage may produce spurious results owing to interethnic differences. In this complex scenario, our study was designed to verify the existence and strength of the association between selected mediators of systemic inflammation and classic risk factors of cardiovascular diseases (CVD). Methods: In a sample of post-menopausal older women, correlation analyses explored the association of circulating levels of IL1a, IL1b, IL8, IL10 and IL12 with atherosclerosis-related clinical/metabolic parameters, using age, body mass index (BMI), genetic ancestry estimates as standard correction factors. Further adjustment for use of therapeutic agents was applied when appropriate. Results: Our analyses revealed association of log 10 -transformed IL-12 titers with VLDL-c levels (r = .192; p = .002) and with SBP (r.185; p = .003), and of log 10 -transformed IL-8 titers with GLY (r = .235; p < .001). Conclusion: Interpretation to the results account to a possible dysregulation of the PPAR signaling pathway to explain the association of IL12 and VLDL-c, and to IL8-driven mechanisms to promote dysglycemia. No previous report sought to investigate the relationship between this set of inflammatory markers and classic risk factors for atherosclerosis correcting for the heterogeneity in genetic admixture and body composition of Brazilian post-menopausal women. ß 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved. * Corresponding author at: Graduation Program in Medical Sciences, University Campus Darcy Ribeiro, Asa Norte, 70910-900 Brası ´lia, DF, Brazil. Tel.: +55 61 3307 2520. E-mail addresses: otavionobrega@unb.br, nobrega@pq.cnpq.br (O.T. No ´ brega). Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Archives of Gerontology and Geriatrics jo ur n al ho mep ag e: www .elsevier .c om /lo cate/ar c hg er http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.archger.2014.10.004 0167-4943/ß 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.