Association between high-sensitivity C-reactive protein with arterial stiffness in healthy Korean adults.
BACKGROUND
The detection of preclinical arterial dysfunction may improve the ability to predict the subsequent risk of its outcomes and lead to optimal strategies to prevent overt vascular damage. The aim of this study was to investigate whether high high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP) is associated with increased arterial stiffness in Korean adults.


METHODS
The association between the hsCRP and cardiac-ankle vascular index (CAVI) was evaluated in 1347 healthy adults. Multivariate logistic analyses were done to identify the association of the hsCRP levels and high CAVI (≥ 8.0).


RESULTS
The age and gender adjusted mean values of the CAVI were significantly higher in the intermediate and high hsCRP groups than in the low hsCRP group. For all the study subjects, an intermediate and high hsCRP was associated with a high CAVI after adjusting for covariates. However, this association was observed only in female subjects in gender-specific analyses and did not change after further adjustment for other variables.


CONCLUSIONS
Even within the normal range, a high hsCRP level was a predictor of high CAVI in healthy adult females. This finding suggests that the risk of arteriosclerosis may be high in females whose hsCRP level is > 0.1mg/dl even in low-risk females.
Department of Family Medicine, Eulji University Hospital, 1306 Dunsan-dong, Seo-gu, Daejeon, South Korea.
Jung-Yoon
JY
Yang
Ji-Sook
JS
Nam
Hee-Jeong
HJ
Choi
D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D001158:Arteries / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000503:physiopathology; D001161:Arteriosclerosis / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000503:physiopathology; D044466:Asian People; D058070:Asymptomatic Diseases; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000378:metabolism; D002097:C-Reactive Protein / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D012107:Research Design; D012307:Risk Factors; D012737:Sex Factors; D059289:Vascular Stiffness
D015415:Biomarkers; D002097:C-Reactive Protein