Hart JE, et al. – The study aimed to determine the relationships between biomarkers of systemic inflammation with pulmonary function in a chronic spinal cord injury (SCI) cohort, adjusting for other potential confounding factors. Researchers reported that plasma C–reactive protein (CRP) and interleukin–6 (IL–6) in people with chronic SCI were inversely related to forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV₁) and forced vital capacity (FVC), independent of SCI level and severity of injury, body mass index (BMI), and other covariates. They suggested that systemic inflammation correlated with chronic SCI might contribute to decreased pulmonary function.

Methods

• In the study presented here, members (n = 311) provided a blood sample, finished a respiratory health questionnaire, and underwent spirometry.
• Linear regression methods were utilized to evaluate cross-sectional associations between plasma C-reactive protein (CRP) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) with FEV₁, FVC, and FEV₁/FVC.

Results

• The results of this study showed that there were statistically significant inverse relationships between plasma CRP and IL-6 assessed in quartiles or consistently with FEV₁ and FVC.
• In fully adjusted models, each interquartile range (5.91 mg/L) increase in CRP was related to a significant reduction in FEV₁ (-55.85 ml; 95% CI: -89.21, -22.49) and diminish in FVC (-65.50 ml; 95% CI: -106.61, -24.60).
• There were similar significant findings for IL-6.
• They did not find statistically significant associations with FEV₁/FVC.