title: Diet and lifestyle are associated with serum C-reactive protein concentrations in a population-based study.
abstract: C-reactive protein (CRP) has been proposed as an independent risk factor for cardiovascular disease. In this study we sought to investigate the association between several nutritional and lifestyle factors and serum CRP concentration in a population-based study. We studied 359 individuals (172 women, 187 men; age range 18-75 years) randomly selected from the town hall's registers and assessed their daily dietary intake using a 3-day estimated-food record. The median serum CRP concentration was 1.40 mg/L (range <0.10-47.48 mg/L; geometric mean 1.20 mg/L). We noted significant and independent direct associations between CRP and age, body-mass index, female sex, and serum triglyceride concentration. Bivariate analysis showed a significant inverse association between CRP and many nutrients (e.g., carbohydrates, proteins, lipids, thiamine, pyridoxine, tocopherol, and folate), but multiple-regression analysis indicated that only the effect of dietary folate intake was not dependent on other factors. Differences in folate intake did not produce changes in plasma homocysteine concentration, and we detected no negative correlation between dietary folate intake and log homocysteine (r = .02, P = .711). Strong positive correlations between the intake of folate and numerous other nutrients were found. This population-based study shows that a higher folate intake, in addition to other known constitutive and lifestyle factors, is significantly associated with a lower serum CRP concentration.
authors.affiliation: Centre de Recerca Biomèdica, Hospital Universitari de Sant Joan, Catalonia, Spain.
authors.forename: Nuria
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Bertran
authors.forename: Jordi
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Camps
authors.forename: Joan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Fernandez-Ballart
authors.forename: Victoria
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Arija
authors.forename: Natalia
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Ferre
authors.forename: Monica
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tous
authors.forename: Dolors
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Simo
authors.forename: Michelle M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Murphy
authors.forename: Elisabet
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Vilella
authors.forename: Jorge
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Joven
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002097:C-Reactive Protein / Q000032:analysis*; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000097:blood* / Q000453:epidemiology; D004032:Diet; D005260:Female; D015438:Health Behavior; D006801:Humans; D008019:Life Style; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011159:Population Surveillance; D012307:Risk Factors; D013030:Spain / Q000453:epidemiology
chemical_list: D002097:C-Reactive Protein