CRP Level Is Independent Risk Factor for Stroke

A recent study has shown that the level of C-reactive protein (CRP) in the blood is an independent risk factor for stroke regardless of the thickness of carotid artery walls, and that people with thicker artery walls are at greater risk.

Investigators at the University of Vermont (Burlington, USA; www.uvm.edu) determined the CRP level in blood samples from 5,417 men and women age 65 or older participating in the US Cardiovascular Health Study, a prospective trial investigating risk factors for cardiovascular disease in the elderly. In addition, each patient was examined by ultrasound to determine the thickness of the walls of the carotid artery.

The results, published June 23, 2003, in the online edition of Circulation, showed that subjects in the highest quartile of CRP levels were 60% percent more likely to have a stroke, compared to those with the lowest CRP levels. People in the second quartile were 19% more likely to have a stroke, while those in the third CRP quartile were 5% more likely to have a stroke than those with the lowest levels. Among people with the thinnest carotid walls, there was no significant association between CRP and stroke, but among those people with thicker carotid walls, there was a significant association between CRP and stroke.

"We found that while C-reactive protein is an independent risk factor for stroke, it is even more closely related to stroke in people with thicker artery walls than in people with thinner walls,” explained senior author Dr. Mary Cushman, an associate professor of medicine at the University of Vermont. "This raises the possibility that higher CRP is associated with more active or unstable plaque that is more likely to rupture and cause a stroke. The findings add to the growing body of evidence that supports using CRP measurements in assessing certain individuals' global cardiovascular disease risk.”



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