High sensitivity C-reactive protein and dyslipidemia as a marker for the risk for cardiovascular disease

Abstract

Background: High sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), a sensitive marker of inflammation and tissue damage is an acute phase reactant. It is raised in hypertension and predicts cardiovascular outcome. Moreover elevated levels of inflammatory markers such as hs-CRP and altered lipid profile are commonly seen in hypertension which may develop cardiovascular events, hence, hs-CRP, lipid profile and nitric oxide (NO) have been incorporated in the study. The aims of this study were to find out a relationship of serum hs-CRP and dyslipidemia in hypertensives and to find out an association of serum hs-CRP with the risk for Cardiovascular disease (CVD). Methods: A case-control study was done among the patients visiting the outpatient department (OPD) of BP Koirala Institute of Health Sciences, Dharan, Nepal in which forty seven newly diagnosed hypertensives as cases and fifty age and sex matched healthy normotensives as controls, were enrolled in the study with the prior informed consent. hs-CRP, nitric oxide (NO) and lipid profile were estimated in both the cases and controls. Results: Hypertensives have significantly raised levels of hs-CRP, non-high density lipoprotein cholesterol (non-HDL-C) and NO compared to that in controls (P< 0.05). hs-CRP has a significant positive correlation with systolic as well as diastolic blood pressure, BMI, and with triglyceride (TG) (P< 0.05). However, the correlation of hs-CRP with NO is negative but statistically significant (0.000). Conclusion: The level of hs-CRP, which is thought to be a marker of inflammation, is significantly raised in hypertensives. Moreover, the majority of hypertensives are dyslipidemic suggesting hypertensives to be at an increased risk for the development of CVD. Key words: Cardiovascular diseases, dyslipidemia, hs-CRP, hypertension, inflammation.