History of Infertility and Plasma Markers of Inflammation, Cholesterol, and Adipokines Among Participants in the Nurses’ Health Study II

Introduction: There is increasing evidence that women who have experienced infertility are at greater risk for several chronic conditions. However, the mechanisms underlying these associations are not clear. Pathophysiology may be illuminated through observation of aberrant systemic biomarkers. However, there are limited data on infertility history and midlife biomarkers of inflammation, lipids, and adipokines. Materials and Methods: Among participants with biomarker measurements in the Nurses’ Health Study II, we used generalized linear models to assess history of infertility and plasma C-reactive protein (CRP, n = 3,518), interleukin-6 (IL-6, n = 3,145), soluble tumor necrosis factor-alpha receptor 2 (sTNFR2, n = 2,648), high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (HDL-C, n = 1,387), low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDL-C, n = 1,193), total cholesterol ( n = 4,427), leptin ( n = 2,228), and adiponectin ( n = 3,810). We investigated specific infertility diagnoses separately, as well as heterogeneity by body mass index (