Background: Coronary vascular disease (CVD) has a high prevalence in the United States, yet 40-50% of those with that diagnosis have normal or mildly increased cholesterol levels. Increased C-reactive protein (CRP) has been associated with CVD, in those presenting after an acute coronary event, and also in apparently healthy individuals.
Methods: We reviewed the literature on this association, and on the relationship between CRP and traditional CVD risk factors including smoking, hypertension, cholesterol and obesity. Also examined is the effect of various medications used in patients with CVD on CRP concentrations.
Results: CRP correlates with risk of CVD in patients who have a history of acute coronary disease, stable angina, and in those who have never been diagnosed with CVD. CRP imparts risk that is independent of hyperlipidemia.
Conclusion: Once commercially available CRP assays are shown to be reliable, CRP may help predict short- and long-term cardiovascular outcomes and may have a role in CVD screening analogous to that of lipid. In the future CRP may modify treatment and preventive therapies.