High-Sensitivity C-Reactive Protein: An Independent Risk Factor for Left Ventricular Hypertrophy in Patients with Lupus Nephritis

OBJECTIVE: To determine the prevalence of left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) and its associated risk factors in lupus nephritis (LN) patients. METHODS: 287 LN patients (age: 38.54 ± 13.31, 262 female) were recruited. Echocardiography and serum high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) were measured. Their relationship was evaluated by univariate correlation analysis and multivariate regression analysis. RESULTS: The prevalence of LVH in this cohort was 21.25% (n = 61). Serum hs-CRP level was significantly elevated in patients with LVH compared to those without (8.03 (3.22-30.95) versus 3.93 (1.48-9.48) mg/L, P < .01), and correlated with left ventricular mass index (LVMI) (r = 0.314, P = .001). Multivariate regression analysis further confirmed that hs-CRP was an independent risk factor (β = 0.338, P = .002) for LVH in patients with LN. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings demonstrated that serum hs-CRP level is independently correlated with LVMI and suggested that measurement of hs-CRP may provide important clinical information to investigate LVH in LN patients.