Associations between common contraceptive use and circulating inflammatory biomarkers

Abstract Ovarian cancer incidence has declined in recent decades, due in part to oral contraceptive (OC) use and tubal ligation. However, intrauterine device (IUD) use has increasingly replaced OC use. As ovarian cancer is an inflammation-related disease, we examined the association of OC use, IUD use, and tubal ligation with plasma levels of C-reactive protein (CRP), interleukin 6, and soluble tumor necrosis factor α receptor 2 in the Nurses’ Health Study (NHS) and NHSII. After adjusting for reproductive, hormonal, and lifestyle factors and mutual adjustment for other methods of contraception, there were no differences in inflammatory markers between ever and never use of each method. However, CRP levels decreased from an average of 30.4% (95% CI, –53.6 to 4.4) with every 5 years since initial IUD use (P-trend = .03), while CRP increased an average of 9.9% (95% CI, 5.7, 14.3) with every 5 years of use of OC (P-trend .0001) as well as differences by body mass index and menopausal status. Our results suggest IUD use and tubal ligation are not associated with higher circulating inflammatory markers long term, although long duration of OC use may increase generalized inflammation, which may in part explain why its protective effect wanes over time. This article is part of a Special Collection on Gynecological Cancer.