Influence of overall and abdominal adiposity on C-reactive protein levels in elderly women.
OBJECTIVE
To investigate how overall and abdominal adiposity, measured by waist circumference (WC), body mass index (BMI), and sum of skinfolds (sigmaSK), affect plasma C-reactive protein levels (CRP) in elderly women.


METHODS
Study sample consisted of 387 women older than 60 years (mean age 68.9; standard deviation 5.9 years). BMI, WC, sigmaSK, and CRP levels were all measured. One-way ANOVA was performed to detect differences in study variables among the CRP levels investigated. Logistic regression analysis was used to determine the influence of body fat measurements on CRP levels. The significance level was set at p < 0.05.


RESULTS
The analysis of variance showed that mean WC was lower in women with normal CRP levels, as compared to those with high CRP levels. Logistic regression analysis examined the influence of BMI, WC, and sigmaSK quartiles on CRP levels, yielding the following results: only WC was predictive of elevated CRP levels, its highest quartile (cut-off point of 94.0 cm) showing levels nearly two times higher than its lowest quartile (odds ratio = 2.23; 95% confidence interval = 1.92-4.18; p = 0.012).


CONCLUSIONS
The results of this study indicate that abdominal adiposity is a strong predictor of elevated CRP levels.
Sasaki
Jeffer Eidi
JE
Universidade Federal do Paraná e Faculdade Evangélica do Paraná - Curitiba, PR - Brazil.
Krause
Maressa Priscila
MP
Gama
Mirnaluci P R
MP
Hallage
Tatiane
T
Buzzachera
Cosme Franklin
CF
Santos
Maria Gisele dos
MG
Silva
Sergio Gregorio da
SG
D050153:Abdominal Fat / Q000473:pathology*; D050154:Adiposity; D000368:Aged; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001172:Arthritis, Rheumatoid / Q000097:blood / Q000473:pathology; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002097:C-Reactive Protein / Q000032:analysis*; D003920:Diabetes Mellitus / Q000097:blood / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000097:blood / Q000473:pathology; D016015:Logistic Models; D008875:Middle Aged; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000097:blood / Q000473:pathology; D016017:Odds Ratio; D012885:Skinfold Thickness; D052256:Tendinopathy / Q000097:blood / Q000473:pathology; D049629:Waist-Hip Ratio
D002097:C-Reactive Protein