The relationships among acculturation, body mass index, depression, and interleukin 1-receptor antagonist in Hispanic pregnant women.

Results: The longer the Hispanic women were in the United States, the higher the IL-1RA levels in plasma (F54.55; P5.002). IL-1RA plasma levels were significantly different between low and normal BMI vs overweight and obese categories of BMI (F58.54; P,.001). IL1RA levels were significantly higher between those women who had high scores for depressive symptoms on the CES-D (using a cut off of 20) and those who had scores less than 20 (t-value522.41; P5.018). In structural equation modeling, years in the United States significantly positively predicted increased depressive symptoms, increased BMI, and increased IL-1RA levels with a good model fit. Conclusions: We found that increasing years of residency in the United States is associated with the elevated inflammatory marker IL-1RA, and increased BMI. Increased depressive symptoms also predict IL-1RA levels among Hispanic women at 22–24 weeks of pregnancy. The significance of these findings is discussed in relationship to the development and course of disease. (Ethn Dis. 2007;17:338–343)