Markers of Inflammation and Cardiovascular Disease

Abstract

C-reactive protein (CRP) is produced by the macrophages in the liver and adipocytes and is integrated in the acute-phase response pathway. Being a nonspecific marker of inflammation, it increases in response to inflammation. The results of recent studies that have analyzed the role of CRP have not yet influenced current clinical practice. When used in combination with other established biomarkers for the prediction of the first major cardiovascular event or death, CRP does not improve the risk stratification obtained with the current guidelines. The reduction of CRP levels itself or as a statin-related pleiotropic effect has been assessed in different scenarios, including the acute phase of myocardial infarction; secondary prevention of cardiovascular diseases; special patient populations, such as diabetic patients; and finally in a primary prevention study (JUPITER [Justification for the Use of statins in primary Prevention: an Intervention Trial Evaluating Rosuvastatin]). Risk stratification in all the examined scenarios was related to serum LDL-C levels; in other words, the degree of cardiovascular risk was always lipid dependent.

Discovery of serum biomarkers of alcoholic fatty liver in a rodent model: C-reactive protein

“…Indeed, CRP increases in other conditions, such as inflammation, obesity [17,18], and cardiovascular disease [19,20]; however, it is also a elevated AFL-induced protein in rats as discovered in this study. Here, our discovery provides a hint that CRP can be used to distinguish AFL from normal or otherwise diseased livers.…”

“…Current studies focusing on the discovery of a noninvasive biomarker panel for diagnosis or prognosis imply that development of a noninvasive method is urgent. CRP is considered to be a marker of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease in clinical analysis [19,20], modulating endothelial function in the process of atherogenesis [35]; therefore, we suggest that using CRP to distinguish AFL from the other liver diseases may consider the complication of cardiovascular disease. In conclusion, this is the first report to reveal new candidate biomarkers of AFL using a proteomics analysis.…”

Thirteen weeks of supplementation of vitamin D and leucine-enriched whey protein nutritional supplement attenuates chronic low-grade inflammation in sarcopenic older adults: the PROVIDE study

“…Since only mean dietary VitD intake was a significant factor, this was finally retained as covariate. In addition, these analyses were repeated including only participants with CRP ≤ 10 mg/Llthroughout the entire study to eliminate potential bias due to acute inflammatory conditions (reflected by CRP-value > 10 mg/l [ 26 ]).…”

C‐reactive protein, early life stress, and wellbeing in healthy adults

“…Across medical disciplines, researchers have found elevated CRP to be associated with obesity (4–10). Although its utility in clinical practice is still debated (11, 12), CRP has been recognized as significant marker for pathological processes that result in cardiovascular disease (13). Longitudinal studies have demonstrated that among generally healthy adults, high baseline CRP independently predicted future onset of cardiovascular events and cardiac morbidity (14), raising the question of whether CRP plays a causative role in the pathogenesis of atherosclerotic diseases specifically, or simply reflects an epiphenomenon signaling the presence of an underlying inflammatory processes impacting disease trajectory (15–17).…”