Blood pressure and inflammation in apparently healthy men

Inflammation plays an important role in the development of atherosclerosis, but the specific stimuli governing cytokine release in atherogenesis are u nknown. We examined the hypothesis that hypertension may increase the risk of atherosclerosis via proinflammatory effects. In a cross-sectional study involving 508 apparently healthy men, we studied the association between bl ood pressure and baseline plasma concentrations of 2 inflammatory markers, intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (sICAM-1) and interleukin-6 (IL-6). Incre ase in systolic blood pressure (SBP) (P=0.003), pulse pressure (PP) (P=0.01 9), and mean arterial pressure (P=0.014) was significantly associated with levels of sICAM-1. All of these measures of blood pressure, as well as dias tolic blood pressure (DBP), were significantly associated with levels of IL -6 (all, P less than or equal to0.001). In multiple linear regression model s controlled for age and other cardiac risk factors, SBP (7.6 ng/mL per 10 mm Hg, P=0.016) and PP (8.13 ng/mL per 10 mm Hg, P=0.038) were significantl y associated with sICAM-1 levels, whereas SBP (0.11 pg/mL per 10 mm Hg, P<0 .001), DBP (0.11 pg/mL per 10 mm Hg, P=0.008), PP (0.10 pg/mL per 10 mm Hg, P=0.009), and mean arterial pressure (0.15 pg/mL per 10 nim Hg, P<0.001) h ad similar strong relationships with log-transformed IL-6 levels. Therefore , in apparently healthy men, we observed. significant graded relationships between blood pressure and levels of sICAM-1 as well as IL-6. These data su ggest that increased blood pressure may be a stimulus for inflammation and that this is a possible mechanism underlying the well-established role of h ypertension as a risk factor for atherosclerotic disease.