DID YOU KNOW: CRP Not Direct Cause of Heart Disease

CRP Not Direct Cause of Heart Disease
A protein that is widely used as an indicator of a person’s heart disease risk does not actually cause heart disease, new research reveals. The findings are important because until now many researchers have viewed C-reactive protein (CRP) as a possible target for heart disease drugs. In this latest study, an international team of researchers studied the genes that control the levels of CRP in the blood and their effect on heart disease. In total they looked at different gene variants in 28,112 people with heart disease and 100,823 people who did not have heart disease. They found that the gene variants linked with different CRP levels are not associated with an increased risk of heart disease, indicating that CRP is unlikely to be directly involved in causing heart disease.

Elliott, P. et al. (2009) Genetic loci associated with C-reactive protein levels and risk of coronary heart disease. JAMA 302 (1): 37-48. DOI: 10.1001/jama.2009.954.