Abstract
Increased levels of high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP) is associated with several psychiatric disorders. Demographic factors such as age and gender might affect this association, but the results are conflicting. The aim of this study was to explore a relationship between age, gender and hsCRP in an acute psychiatric inpatient population. We included 484 patients admitted to an acute psychiatric ward. Based on age distribution percentiles (25%, 50% and 75 %), we categorized patients into three age groups; ≦31 years old, 31–47 years old and ≧ 48 years old. Differences in serum levels of hsCRP between the age groups were assessed in the total sample, within males and females, and within diagnostic groups. There were significant differences in hsCRP across age groups. The effect was stronger in males than females. The significant differences between age groups were kept among patients with substance use disorders and bipolar disorders, but not among schizophrenia spectrum disorders, unipolar depression, neurotic disorders and personality disorders. Our findings suggest that the previously known association between age and hsCRP is present within an acute psychiatric population. However, this association was not found for all psychiatric diagnoses.
Highlights
C-reactive protein (CRP) is a widely used marker of inflammation of clinical importance especially in infection, and in autoimmunity
The other way around, higher levels of high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP) might increase the risk for schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and depression (Wium-Andersen et al, 2016), which are comparable to the risk for somatic diseases (Wium-Andersen et al, 2014)
We hypothesized that hsCRP would be related to both gender and age within an acute psychiatric population, and that this would be relevant for a variety of psychiatric disorders
Summary
C-reactive protein (CRP) is a widely used marker of inflammation of clinical importance especially in infection, and in autoimmunity. Increase in low levels of CRP (measured as high-sensitivity CRP, hsCRP) is gaining attention as a marker of cardiovascular risk. The level of hsCRP differs between genders, which might have consequences for the risk of cardiovascular diseases and cancer (Halcox et al, 2014; Li et al, 2017). HsCRP has gained increased interest in psychiatry. Severe mental disorders such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and depression have been associated with higher levels of CRP (Dickerson et al, 2013; Fernandes et al, 2016; Haapakoski et al, 2015). The other way around, higher levels of hsCRP might increase the risk for schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and depression (Wium-Andersen et al, 2016), which are comparable to the risk for somatic diseases (Wium-Andersen et al, 2014)
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