Key result
Greater social support was associated with lower IL-6 in older women, whereas functional social measures were associated with higher CRP in both men and women.
Why the study?
Are social relationships associated with inflammatory markers (IL-6 and CRP) differently based on age and gender in middle-aged and older adults?
Cohort (n=963)
Are social relationships associated with inflammatory markers (IL-6 and CRP) differently based on age and gender in middle-aged and older adults?
Greater social support is associated with lower IL-6 levels in older women, highlighting the potential role of social relationships in modulating age-related inflammation.
May inform gender-specific social assessments for inflammation in aging; leaves open causality and requires prospective trials.
OBJECTIVE: To better understand age and gender differences in associations of social relationships with chronic inflammation. METHOD: Using a sample of middle-aged and older adults ( N = 963) from the Midlife Development in the United States (MIDUS) biomarker project, we examined interactions of age and gender with structural and functional social network measures in predicting interleukin-6 (IL-6) and C-reactive protein (CRP). RESULTS: Significant interactions involving age and gender showed that social support was associated with lower IL-6 in older women, whereas perceived positive relationships and social integration were related to lower IL-6 in both men and women of advanced age. Functional measures were associated with higher CRP in both men and women after adjustment for health conditions and behaviors, with some further variation by age. DISCUSSION: Greater social support may be related to lower IL-6 in older women. Further research is needed to understand observed associations of social support with higher CRP.
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Elliot et al. (2017) reported a cohort. Social relationships (structural and functional social network measures) was evaluated on Interleukin-6 (IL-6) and C-reactive protein (CRP). Greater social support was associated with lower IL-6 in older women, whereas functional social measures were associated with higher CRP in both men and women.
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