Clinical research studyC-Reactive Protein, Inflammatory Conditions, and Cardiovascular Disease Risk
Section snippets
Study Sample
The design and selection criteria for Framingham Offspring Study have been described previously.26 For primary analyses, we selected all participants who attended the fifth examination cycle (1991-1995) and had CRP concentrations measured (n = 3782; 1973 women). We excluded participants with prevalent cardiovascular disease at baseline (n = 365), resulting in an available sample of 3417 (1842 women) participants. This sample was used to assess the prevalence of common inflammatory conditions (as
Results
Mean age of the participants was 55 ± 10 years (52% women; Table 1). Participants with prevalent inflammatory conditions were more likely to report current cigarette smoking. Blood pressure, total/HDL cholesterol ratio, and prevalence of diabetes were slightly higher among men compared with women.
Discussion
In our sample of middle-aged to elderly men and women, markedly high CRP concentrations (>10 mg/L) were not uncommon (9.4% of men and 14.0% women). At least one chronic inflammatory condition was reported by nearly half of men and women who were free of prevalent cardiovascular disease. The prevalence of common inflammatory conditions increased with increasing concentrations of CRP. Conversely, participants with low CRP concentrations (<1 mg/L) were less likely to report a common chronic
Conclusion
In our community-based sample, elevated and, in particular, markedly high concentrations of CRP (>10 mg/L) are associated with a significantly higher prevalence of common, as well as uncommon, inflammatory conditions. Further research is warranted using comprehensive, validated ascertainment of inflammatory conditions and high-sensitivity CRP assays to assess the impact of common inflammatory conditions on cardiovascular disease risk prediction. Our findings reinforce previous statements that
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Supported by the NHLBI’s Framingham Heart Study contract NHLBI N01 HC 25195; R01 HL 073272 01, R01 HL 64753, and R01 HL 076784; and the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation Program in Clinical Cardiovascular Research.
Part of this article was presented as a poster at the American Heart Association annual scientific sessions, New Orleans, Louisiana, on November 9, 2004.