Systemic inflammation markers and the prevalence of hypertension in 8- to 17-year-old children and adolescents: A NHANES cross-sectional study.

Background and aims: The recent emphasis on systemic inflammation markers has focused primarily on their association with cardiac disorders, particularly the prevalence of hypertension, in adults but not children and adolescents. This research aimed to explore the associations between systemic inflammation markers and the occurrence of hypertension in 8- to 17-year-old children and adolescents in the United States.

Methods and results: Data from 6095 participants under 18 years of age were obtained from the National Health and Nutritional Examination Survey (NHANES: 1999-2020). This study examined the associations between the incidence of hypertension and four indicators of systemic inflammation: the systemic immune-inflammation index (SII), neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR), and lymphocyte-to-monocyte ratio (LMR). Multivariate logistic regression analysis results are represented as odds ratios (ORs) and 95 % confidence intervals (CIs), and subgroup analyses were conducted to further explore associations. After fully adjusting for potential confounding covariates, the SII, NLR, and PLR were positively associated with hypertension. Compared with individuals in the bottom quartiles, those in the top SII, NLR, and PLR quartiles were 2.12, 2.11, and 1.57 times more likely to have hypertension, respectively. Conversely, the LMR was negatively associated with hypertension incidence, particularly among those in the highest LMR quartiles (OR = 0.59, 95 % CI = 0.39-0.88; P = 0.009). Subgroup analyses revealed that the four indicators exhibited strong correlations with hypertension in male subjects.

Conclusion: This study revealed significant relationships between systemic inflammatory markers and hypertension incidence, highlighting the potential of these markers as hypertension risk indicators, particularly among male patients.