Very low levels of high-sensitivity C-reactive protein are not bimodally distributed but are significantly related to other metabolic risk factors in Japanese.
BACKGROUND
High-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) is an independent risk factor of diabetes and cardiovascular disease and it is proposed as a component of metabolic syndrome. Blood levels of hs-CRP are reported to be much lower in Japanese than in Westerners and bimodally distributed in Japanese.


METHODS
Very low levels of hs-CRP were examined using medical check-up data of 1,360 Japanese men and 821 women whose plasma levels of high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) were below 10 mg/L.


RESULTS
The distribution of hs-CRP levels were skewed but not bimodal in both men and women and very low levels of hs-CRP were significantly related to waist circumference, systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, fasting glucose, triglycerides, and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol in both men and women. The area under receiver operating characteristic curve of hs-CRP for diagnosing metabolic syndrome and Spearman's correlation coefficients between hs-CRP and components of metabolic syndrome were comparable to those of components of metabolic syndrome in both men and women.


CONCLUSIONS
Very low levels of hs-CRP were not bimodally distributed but were significantly related to metabolic risk factors in Japanese.
Oda
Eiji
E
Medical Check-up Center, Tachikawa Medical Center, Nagaoka. ijie@venus.sannet.ne.jp
Kawai
Ryu
R
D000328:Adult; D001786:Blood Glucose / Q000378:metabolism; D001794:Blood Pressure / Q000502:physiology; D002097:C-Reactive Protein / Q000378:metabolism*; D008078:Cholesterol, LDL / Q000097:blood; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D024821:Metabolic Syndrome / Q000097:blood* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000208:ethnology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D012307:Risk Factors; D014280:Triglycerides / Q000097:blood
D001786:Blood Glucose; D008078:Cholesterol, LDL; D014280:Triglycerides; D002097:C-Reactive Protein