Plasma Concentration of C-Reactive Protein and the Calculated Framingham Coronary Heart Disease Risk Score

BACKGROUND: Although C-reactive protein (CRP) predicts vascular risk, few data are available evaluating the relation between CRP and the Framingham Coronary Heart Disease Risk Score (FCRS). METHODS AND RESULTS: CRP levels were compared with calculated 10-year FCRS in a cross-sectional survey of 1666 individuals free of cardiovascular disease. Among men and women not using hormone replacement therapy (HRT), CRP levels were significantly related to 10-year Framingham Coronary Heart Disease Risk categories total cholesterol (TC) score for men and women: r=0.29 and r=0.22, respectively; LDL cholesterol score for men and women: r=0.29 and r=0.22, respectively, all probability values <0.01. However, CRP levels correlated minimally with individual components of the FCRS, which included age (r(men)=0.17, r(women)=-0.003), TC (r(men)=-0.02, r(women)=-0.006), HDL-C (r(men)=0.13), LDL-C (r(men)=-0.0002, r(women)=0.012), blood pressure (rmen=0.18, r(women)=0.22), diabetes (r(men)=0.10, r(women)=0.07), and smoking (r(men)=0.16, r(women)=0.14) status. For women taking HRT, no significant relation was observed between CRP and the FCRS, although the power to detect effects in this subgroup is limited. CONCLUSIONS: Our data demonstrate that CRP levels significantly correlate with calculated 10-year Framingham Coronary Heart Disease Risk in men and women not taking HRT but correlate minimally with most individual components of the FCRS. These data provide additional support for continued evaluation of CRP as a potential adjunct in the global prediction of cardiovascular risk.