Title:
Inflammation Biomarkers Are Independent Contributors to Functional Performance in Chronic Conditions: An Exploratory Study

Authors:
Arthur Nascimento Arrieiro; Luana Aparecida Soares; Ana Caroline Negreiros Prates; Pedro Henrique Scheidt Figueiredo; Henrique Silveira Costa; Adriano Prado Simão; Camila Danielle Cunha Neves; Jousielle Márcia dos Santos; Luciana Martins de Mello Santos; Núbia Carelli Pereira Avelar; Sueli Ferreira Fonseca; Vanessa Kelly da Silva Lage; Vanessa Gonçalves César Ribeiro; Daniele Sirineu Pereira; Fabiana Souza Maximo Pereira; Alessandra de Carvalho Bastone; Vanessa Amaral Mendonça; Mario Bernardo-Filho; Ana Cristina Rodrigues Lacerda, Brazil

Abstract:

Chronic health conditions are accompanied by low-grade systemic inflammation and increased blood concentrations of pro-inflammatory cytokines, such as tumor necrosis factor (TNF). Blood levels of soluble receptors for tumor necrosis factor (TNF) can influence functional performance in patients with chronic conditions such as fibromyalgia, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and Chagas disease. However, a gap remains with regard to the association between systemic inflammation biomarkers and functional performance in chronic conditions. The aim of this study was to verify the association of soluble receptors for TNF with functional performance in chronic conditions. One hundred and forty-six volunteers with chronic conditions (52.4 years, 49.8% males) were assessed to verify the association between blood levels of soluble receptors for tumor necrosis factor 1 (sTNF-R1) and 2 (sTNF-R2) and functional performance. Simple and multivariate linear regression, adjusted for body mass index and age, were used as appropriate. High sTNFR-1 plasma level was associated with a lower functional performance regardless of BMI adjustment (R2 = 0.235; β = - 0.380; p = 0.000) or age adjustment (R2 = 0.763; β = -0.148; p = 0.002). High sTNFR-2 plasma level was associated with a high functional performance regardless of age adjustment (R2 = 0.763; β = 0.147; p = 0.001). In brief, high sTNFR-1 plasma level and low sTNFR-2 plasma level predicted a reduction of approximately 76.3% in functional performance in chronic conditions. Thus, the findings showed that the soluble receptors for TNF-alpha are determinants of functional performance in chronic conditions.

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.51505/ijmshr.2021.5404