Significance of C-reactive protein determination in patients with metabolic syndrome

Objecive. Previous research has shown that CRP is elevated in patients with metabolic syndrome (MS) and that low-intensity inflammation is a characteristic of MS. The aim of this study was to determine the concentration of CRP and to examine the significance of elevated CRP in MS patients. Methods. The study included 149 outpatients, 67 patients with MS (68.9 ± 8.7 years) and 82 subjects who were in the control group of the appropriate age (68.9 ± 8.6 years) (p> 0.05). CRP was determined by turbidimetry and the reference range was up to 5.0 mg / L. Results. The average CRP concentration for MS patients was 5.33 ± 3.60 mg / L, while in the control group the CRP concentration value was 4.60 ± 2.03 mg / L (p <0.001). There was no significant difference in CRP concentrations between men (6.02 ± 4.88 mg / L) and women with MS (4.97 ± 2.87 mg / L) (p> 0.05). Almost a third of patients (29.8%) and only 6.1% of subjects in the control group had a CRP concentration greater than 5 mg / L (p <0.01). Conclusion. A significantly higher frequency of elevated serum CRP concentrations in individuals with MS, compared to those without MS, indicates both the importance of inflammation in the pathogenesis of MS and CRP being biomarkers and mediators of chronic inflammation.