C-Reactive Protein (CRP) and Body Weight

More attention is being paid to increases in C-reactive protein (CRP) levels as an indicator of cardiovascular health. CRP is released into the bloodstream any time there is active inflammation in the body, which can occur in response to infection, injury, or various conditions such as arthritis. It’s been found that increases are predictive of events such as heart attack or stroke, and there’s speculation that inflammation in blood vessels is the precursor to atherosclerosis.

All this means that CRP levels are being measured more often by physicians. The American Heart Association recommends measuring CRP levels in patients who, based on cholesterol levels, weight, level of exercise, smoking, high blood pressure, and diabetes, appear to have a moderate risk of a cardiovascular event; an elevated CRP would indicate that the risk may very well be much greater than "moderate."

When a test starts to be used in diagnosis, it’s important to know what factors may influence its value, other than the disease itself. A review of published clinical studies has now shown that weight loss reduces the CRP level. In studies of interventions designed to reduce weight – lifestyle or surgical interventions – there was a -0.13 mg/L reduction in CRP for every kilogram (~2 pounds) of weight lost.

Of course, the question remains whether the weight loss is primarily responsible for an improved outlook for the patients in these studies, or whether the reduction in CRP is responsible. But either way, lowering body weight is something that can be achieved, whereas we don’t have a drug (yet!) that specifically lowers CRP.