(P30-030-23) Elevated Salivary Interleukin-1β Is Associated With Greater Fluctuations in Cortisol and Less Healthful Dietary Patterns

Objectives: Chronic stress and elevated cortisol are associated with metabolic and immune dysfunction, systemic low-grade inflammation, and chronic disease risk. We have previously reported that greater fluctuations in salivary cortisol are associated with less optimal body composition and diet patterns; thus, we further evaluated whether greater fluctuations in cortisol were associated with salivary inflammatory cytokine levels, which can serve as surrogate markers of systemic inflammation.

Methods: Adult men and women (18-70y, n = 18) were recruited to participate in a 5-day observational study, in which they underwent a baseline health assessment, completed 5-day diet, exercise, and stress records, and provided saliva samples in the morning, afternoon, and evening to measure fluctuations in cortisol, interleukin-1β (IL-1β), and IL-6. Degree of cortisol variability over the 5-day period (highest cortisol measure - lowest cortisol measure) was used to classify subjects into high (n=9) and low (n=8) cortisol fluctuation groups.

Results: Participants with greater fluctuations in salivary cortisol trended toward having higher salivary IL-1β on average compared to participants with lower cortisol fluctuations, whereas no difference between groups was observed for salivary IL-6. Independent of stress grouping, salivary IL-1β was significantly higher in the morning as compared to afternoon and evening. Further, participants with greater cortisol fluctuations had greater salivary IL-1β throughout the day, as compared to participants with lower fluctuations in salivary cortisol. Conversely, diurnal patterns were not observed for salivary IL-6, nor were differences between high vs. low cortisol fluctuations groups. Morning IL-1β levels were positively associated with dietary intake of total carbohydrate, fructose and sucrose, added sugars, sweetened beverages, numerous saturated fatty acids, and fried potatoes, while it was inversely associated with intake of other vegetables and satiety upon waking.

Conclusions: Our findings suggest that greater fluctuations in cortisol are associated with greater salivary IL-1β throughout the day, and that elevated peak morning IL-1β levels correlate with less healthful dietary patterns.

Funding Sources: This study was funded by the Fairfield University College of Arts and Sciences.