Immunity & Ageing (Sep 2018)

The baseline levels and risk factors for high-sensitive C-reactive protein in Chinese healthy population

  • Ying Tang,
  • Peifen Liang,
  • Junzhe Chen,
  • Sha Fu,
  • Bo Liu,
  • Min Feng,
  • Baojuan Lin,
  • Ben Lee,
  • Anping Xu,
  • Hui Y. Lan

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12979-018-0126-7
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 15, no. 1
pp. 1 – 8

Abstract

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Abstract Background Recent studies show that C-reactive protein (CRP) is not only a biomarker but also a pathogenic mediator contributing to the development of inflammation and ageing-related diseases. However, serum levels of CRP in the healthy ageing population remained unclear, which was investigated in the present study. Methods Serum levels of high sensitive C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), glucose (Glu), triglyceride (TG), cholesterol (CHOL), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-c), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-c), superoxide dismutase (SOD), serum creatinine (SCr), serum uric acid (SUA) were measured in 6060healthy subjects (3672 male and 2388 female, mean age:45.9 years) who received routine physical examination at Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hospital, Guangzhou, China. Results In total of 6060 healthy people, serum levels of hs-CRP were significantly increased with ageing (P < 0.05), particularly in those with age over 45-year-old (1.31[0.69–2.75] vs 1.05[0.53–2.16]mg/L, P < 0.001). Interestingly, levels of serum hs-CRP were significantly higher in male than female population (1.24[0.65–2.57] vs 1.07[0.53–2.29]mg/L, P < 0.001). Correlation analysis also revealed that serum levels of hs-CRP positively correlated with age and SUA, but inversely correlated with serum levels of HDL-c and SOD (all P < 0.05). Conclusions Baseline levels of serum hs-CRP are increased with ageing and are significantly higher in male than female healthy population. In addition, elevated serum levels of hs-CRP are also associated with increased SUA but decreased HDL-c and SOD. Thus, serum levels of hs-CRP may be an indicator associated with ageing in healthy Chinese population.

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