Association between C-reactive protein and features of the metabolic syndrome: a population-based study.

TLDR

The study aimed to evaluate how circulating C‑reactive protein levels associate with components of the metabolic syndrome. Researchers measured lipid profiles, uric acid, BMI, diabetes, and hypertension in 1,703 adults from a 1987–1988 West German population survey. Higher C‑reactive protein correlated positively with total cholesterol, triglycerides, BMI, glucose, and uric acid, negatively with HDL, and increased progressively with more metabolic syndrome features, indicating a link between systemic inflammation and metabolic syndrome.

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To assess the association of circulating levels of C-reactive protein, a sensitive systemic marker of inflammation, with different components of the metabolic syndrome. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: Total cholesterol (TC), HDL cholesterol, triglycerides, uric acid, BMI , and prevalence of diabetes and hypertension were assessed in 747 men and 956 women aged 18-89 years who were participating in the population-based National Health and Nutrition Survey, which was carried out in former West Germany in 1987-1988. RESULTS: There was a statistically significant positive crude correlation between C-reactive protein and TC (R = 0.19), TG (R = 0.29), BMI (R = 0.32), glucose (R = 0.11), and uric acid (R = 0.14) (all P < 0.0001). A negative correlation was found between C-reactive protein and HDL cholesterol (R = 0.13, P < 0.0001). The age-adjusted geometric means of C-reactive protein concentrations in subjects grouped according to the presence of 0-1, 2-3, and > or =4 features of the metabolic syndrome were 1.11, 1.27, and 2.16 mg/l, respectively, with a statistically highly significant trend (P < 0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: The data suggest that a variety of features of the metabolic syndrome are associated with a systemic inflammatory response.