Huang Wan-Yu, Hsin I-Lun, Chen Dar-Ren, Chang Chia-Chu, Kor Chew-Teng, Chen Ting-Yu, Wu Hung-Ming
Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan.
Inflammation Research & Drug Development Center, Changhua Christian Hospital, Changhua, Taiwan.
PLoS One. 2017 Aug 28;12(8):e0184011. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0184011. eCollection 2017.
Hot flashes have been postulated to be linked to systemic inflammation. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between hot flashes, pro-inflammatory factors, and leukocytes in healthy, non-obese postmenopausal women.
In this cross-sectional study, a total of 202 women aged 45-60 years were stratified into one of four groups according to their hot-flash status: never experienced hot flashes (Group N), mild hot flashes (Group m), moderate hot flashes (Group M), and severe hot flashes (Group S). Variables measured in this study included clinical parameters, hot flash experience, leukocytes, and fasting plasma levels of nine circulating cytokines/chemokines measured by using multiplex assays. Multiple linear regression analysis was used to evaluate the associations of hot flashes with these pro-inflammatory factors.
The study was performed in a hospital medical center.
The mean values of leukocyte number were not different between these four groups. The hot flash status had a positive tendency toward increased levels of circulating IL-6 (P-trend = 0.049), IL-8 (P-trend < 0.001), TNF-α (P-trend = 0.008), and MIP1β (P-trend = 0.04). Multivariate linear regression analysis revealed that hot-flash severity was significantly associated with IL-8 (P-trend < 0.001) and TNFα (P-trend = 0.007) among these nine cytokines/chemokines after adjustment for age, menopausal duration, BMI and FSH. Multivariate analysis further revealed that severe hot flashes were strongly associated with a higher IL-8 (% difference, 37.19%; 95% confidence interval, 14.98,63.69; P < 0.001) and TNFα (51.27%; 6.64,114.57; P < 0.05).
The present study provides evidence that hot flashes are associated with circulating IL-8 and TNF-α in healthy postmenopausal women. It suggests that hot flashes might be related to low-grade systemic inflammation.
潮热被认为与全身炎症有关。本研究旨在调查健康、非肥胖绝经后女性潮热、促炎因子和白细胞之间的关系。
在这项横断面研究中，根据潮热状态，将总共202名45至60岁的女性分为四组之一：从未经历过潮热（N组）、轻度潮热（m组）、中度潮热（M组）和重度潮热（S组）。本研究测量的变量包括临床参数、潮热经历、白细胞以及通过多重检测法测量的九种循环细胞因子/趋化因子的空腹血浆水平。采用多元线性回归分析来评估潮热与这些促炎因子之间的关联。
该研究在一家医院医疗中心进行。
这四组之间白细胞数量的平均值没有差异。潮热状态与循环IL-6（P趋势=0.049）、IL-8（P趋势<0.001）、TNF-α（P趋势=0.008）和MIP1β（P趋势=0.04）水平升高呈正相关趋势。多变量线性回归分析显示，在调整年龄、绝经持续时间、BMI和FSH后，在这九种细胞因子/趋化因子中，潮热严重程度与IL-8（P趋势<0.001）和TNFα（P趋势=0.007）显著相关。多变量分析进一步显示，重度潮热与较高的IL-8（差异百分比，37.19%；95%置信区间，14.98,63.69；P<0.001）和TNFα（51.27%；6.64,114.57；P<0.05）密切相关。
本研究提供了证据表明，在健康绝经后女性中，潮热与循环IL-8和TNF-α有关。这表明潮热可能与低度全身炎症有关。
