Study question: CRP and LDL cholesterol levels are both elevated in individuals at risk for cardiovascular events. This study sought population-based data that directly compared these two biological markers because such data are not available.
Methods: LDL cholesterol and CRP were measured at baseline in 27,939 healthy American women. The occurrence of myocardial infarction, ischemic stroke, or death from cardiovascular causes at follow up of 8 years was analyzed.
Results: Overall, 77% of all events occurred among women with LDL cholesterol levels below 160 mg/dl (4.14 mmol/L) and 46% occurred among those with LDL
cholesterol levels below 150 mg/dl (3.36 mmol/L). The level of CRP showed an apparent superiority over LDL cholesterol in terms of the prediction of risk of the composite end point: coronary heart disease, stroke, and death from cardiovascular causes (see Fig. 1). Comparison with the Framingham risk score is given in Fig. 2.
Conclusion: The authors of this study concluded: the data suggest that CRP is a stronger predictor of cardiovascular events than LDL cholesterol levels, and that it adds prognostic information over and above that obtained with LDL cholesterol and other risk score assessments.

Страницы: 1 | 2