title: C-reactive protein concentration is not related to islet autoimmunity status in offspring of parents with type 1 diabetes.
abstract: Autoimmunity may be associated with acute or chronic inflammation. In order to determine whether the inflammatory marker C-reactive protein (CRP) was an indicator of inflammatory events that precede, predict, or associate with islet autoimmunity or type 1 diabetes, CRP was measured in sequential antibody-negative, seroconversion, and follow-up-positive samples from 65 prospectively studied islet autoantibody-positive children. Although changes in CRP concentrations were observed in some children, overall CRP concentrations were similar in antibody-negative samples (median, 0.21 mg/L), antibody-positive samples (median, 0.26 mg/L), and samples at seroconversion (median, 0.26 mg/L). CRP concentrations at diabetes onset (median, 0.59 mg/L) were not significantly increased over antibody-negative samples (P = 0.07). CRP concentrations did not predict diabetes development. CRP concentrations were related to age (r = 0.26; P < 0.001) and were increased in samples obtained from October to January (P < 0.001). These findings suggest that CRP concentrations are not a valuable marker of progression to type 1 diabetes and highlight the importance of correcting analyses for seasonal variations.
authors.affiliation: Istituto Scientifico San Raffaele, Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: Ezio
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Bonifacio
authors.forename: Ulrike
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Mollenhauer
authors.forename: Doris
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Buuck
authors.forename: Anette-Gabriele
authors.initials: AG
authors.lastname: Ziegler
mesh_terms: D001323:Autoantibodies / Q000097:blood*; D015551:Autoimmunity; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D002097:C-Reactive Protein / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003922:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1 / Q000097:blood* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000276:immunology; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007515:Islets of Langerhans / Q000276:immunology*; D010290:Parents; D011446:Prospective Studies
chemical_list: D001323:Autoantibodies; D015415:Biomarkers; C024211:islet cell antibody; D002097:C-Reactive Protein