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Published on: January 28, 2020

Inflammatory biomarkers and cardiovascular risk: association or cause and effect?

Madhumathi Rao1, Bertrand L Jaber, Vaidyanathapuram S Balakrishnan

  • 1Division of Nephrology, Department of Medicine, Tufts-New England Medical Center, Boston, Massachusetts 02111, USA. mrao@tufts-nemc.org

Seminars in Dialysis
|March 23, 2006
PubMed

Insights

High-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP) may help assess coronary heart disease risk. This review examines if inflammatory markers like hsCRP are risk factors or merely markers in atherosclerosis.

Area of Science:

  • Cardiovascular Medicine
  • Inflammation Biology
  • Biomarker Research

Background:

  • Atherosclerosis is increasingly recognized as an inflammatory disorder.
  • Systemic inflammatory response markers are studied as cardiovascular disease predictors.
  • High-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP) is proposed for intermediate coronary heart disease risk assessment.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To review evidence for and against a causal role of inflammatory biomarkers, specifically CRP, in atherosclerosis.
  • To differentiate between risk markers and risk factors for atherosclerotic disease.

Main Methods:

  • Literature review of studies investigating inflammatory biomarkers in atherosclerosis.
  • Analysis of evidence supporting or refuting a causal role for CRP.

Main Results:

  • Traditional view: CRP and other inflammatory biomarkers are risk markers, not causal risk factors.
  • Evidence is presented for and against CRP having a causal role in the atherosclerotic process.

Conclusions:

  • Inflammatory biomarkers, including CRP, can serve diagnostic and prognostic roles.
  • Identifying a causal role for CRP could reveal new therapeutic targets for atherosclerosis.

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