Ethnic Differences in C-Reactive Protein strongConcentrationsstrong.pdfVIP

Clinical Chemistry 54:6 Lipids, Lipoproteins, and Cardiovascular Risk Factors 1027–1037 (2008) Ethnic Differences in C-Reactive Protein Concentrations Alyson Kelley-Hedgepeth,1 Donald M. Lloyd-Jones,2 Alicia Colvin,3 Karen A. Matthews,4 Janet Johnston,5 MaryFran R. Sowers,6 Barbara Sternfeld,7 Richard C. Pasternak,8 and Claudia U. Chae,9* for the SWAN Investigators BACKGROUND: Limited data exist regarding the ethnic of these ethnic differences and their implications for differences in C-reactive protein (CRP) concentra- the use of CRP in CVD risk prediction. tions, an inflammatory marker associated with risk of © 2008 American Association for Clinical Chemistry cardiovascular disease (CVD). We hypothesized that known CVD risk factors, including anthropometric characteristics, would explain much of the observed Cardiovascular disease (CVD)10 has a significant im- ethnic variation in CRP. pact on morbidity and mortality worldwide and is the leading cause of death in the United States in women, METHODS: We performed a cross-sectional analysis of as in men (1). C-reactive protein (CRP), a marker of 3154 women, without known CVD and not receiving systemic inflammation, is independently associated hormone therapy, enrolled in the Study of Women’s with risk of myocardial infarction and cardiovascular Health Across the Nation (SWAN), a multiethnic death in prospective cohort studies (2–4). The Amer- prospective study of