Cardiovascular Health Trajectories and Elevated C-Reactive Protein: The CARDIA Study

Area of Science:

• Cardiovascular Health
• Inflammation Biomarkers
• Longitudinal Studies

Background:

• The link between long-term cardiovascular health (CVH) trajectories and elevated C-reactive protein (CRP) in middle age remains understudied.
• Investigating this relationship is vital for understanding chronic inflammation development.
• The Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults (CARDIA) study provides a unique dataset for this analysis.

Purpose of the Study:

• To examine the association between distinct long-term cardiovascular health (CVH) patterns from young adulthood to middle age and elevated C-reactive protein (CRP) levels.
• To identify specific CVH trajectories associated with increased inflammation markers.
• To analyze race-specific differences in these associations.

Main Methods:

• Utilized data from 4405 Black and White participants in the CARDIA study over 25 years.
• Employed latent class modeling to define CVH trajectories based on multiple health components.
• Applied multivariable Poisson regression to assess the relationship between CVH trajectories and elevated CRP (>3.0 mg/L) prevalence.

Main Results:

• Identified five distinct CVH trajectories for both Black and White participants.
• Lower and decreasing CVH trajectories were significantly associated with a higher prevalence of elevated CRP at 25-year follow-up.
• Individuals in the lowest CVH trajectory groups showed substantially higher odds of chronically elevated CRP compared to those with the highest CVH trajectory.

Conclusions:

• Long-term cardiovascular health trajectories significantly impact C-reactive protein levels in middle age.
• Declining or consistently poor CVH is a predictor of elevated inflammation.
• These findings highlight the importance of sustained cardiovascular health throughout early and mid-adulthood for mitigating chronic inflammation.