Absence of diurnal variation of C-reactive protein concentrations in healthy human subjects.
BACKGROUND
The concentration of C-reactive protein (CRP) in otherwise healthy subjects has been shown to predict future risk of myocardial infarction and stroke. CRP is synthesized by the liver in response to interleukin-6, the serum concentration of which is subject to diurnal variation.


METHODS
To examine the existence of a time-of-day effect for baseline CRP values, we determined CRP concentrations in hourly blood samples drawn from healthy subjects (10 males, 3 females; age range, 21-35 years) during a baseline day in a controlled environment (8 h of nighttime sleep).


RESULTS
Overall CRP concentrations were low, with only three subjects having CRP concentrations >2 mg/L. Comparison of raw data showed stability of CRP concentrations throughout the 24 h studied. When compared with cutoff values of CRP quintile derived from population-based studies, misclassification of greater than one quintile did not occur as a result of diurnal variation in any of the subjects studied. Nonparametric ANOVA comparing different time points showed no significant differences for both raw and z-transformed data. Analysis for rhythmic diurnal variation using a method fitting a cosine curve to the group data was negative.


CONCLUSIONS
Our data show that baseline CRP concentrations are not subject to time-of-day variation and thus help to explain why CRP concentrations are a better predictor of vascular risk than interleukin-6. Determination of CRP for cardiovascular risk prediction may be performed without concern for diurnal variation.
Meier-Ewert
H K
HK
Department of Cardiology, Lahey Clinic Medical Center, 41 Mall Rd., Burlington, MA 01805, USA. hans.k.meirewert@lahey.org
Ridker
P M
PM
Rifai
N
N
Price
N
N
Dinges
D F
DF
Mullington
J M
JM
D000328:Adult; D002097:C-Reactive Protein / Q000032:analysis*; D002940:Circadian Rhythm; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007118:Immunoassay; D008297:Male; D012016:Reference Values
D002097:C-Reactive Protein