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Inflammaging: Blame the sons. Relationships between the number of sons and the level of inflammatory mediators among post‐reproductive women
Author(s) -
Galbarczyk Andrzej,
Klimek Magdalena,
Blukacz Mateusz,
Nenko Ilona,
Jabłońska Magdalena,
Jasienska Grazyna
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
american journal of physical anthropology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.146
H-Index - 119
eISSN - 1096-8644
pISSN - 0002-9483
DOI - 10.1002/ajpa.24295
Subject(s) - proinflammatory cytokine , reproduction , demography , medicine , tumor necrosis factor alpha , inflammation , interleukin 6 , physiology , gerontology , immunology , biology , ecology , sociology
Objectives Reproduction is costly, but sons and daughters differently influence maternal physiology, also in older age. In particular, having sons may negatively influence maternal health and may be associated with a shorter life span of mothers. Sons may also contribute to increased inflammaging, a chronic sub‐clinical systemic inflammatory state characterized by elevated levels of serum inflammatory mediators. The aim of this study was to examine the impact of the total number of children, and the number of daughters and sons separately on concentrations of C‐reactive protein (CRP), and proinflammatory cytokines such as interleukin 6 (IL‐6) and tumor necrosis factor‐α (TNF‐α). Materials and Methods The participants were 378 women aged 45–92 who had 3.9 (SD 2.12, median = 4, range = 0–13) children, including 2.1 (SD 1.46, median = 2, range = 0–8) sons and 1.8 (SD 1.44, median = 2, range = 0–7) daughters on average. Results We found a positive relationship between the overall number of children and IL‐6 levels. CRP and IL‐6 concentrations were positively associated with the number of sons but not with the number of daughters. Each son increased maternal CRP level by 11%, and IL‐6 level by 6%. Neither the total number of children nor the number of daughters or sons were related to the TNF‐α concentration. Discussion Aging‐associated inflammation in post‐reproductive mothers with a higher number of sons supports the hypothesis of trade‐offs between reproduction and health. Furthermore, these results provide new evidence contributing to the idea that having sons may have more detrimental effects on the maternal organism than having daughters.