Wednesday, July 1, 2009
CRP? Fuggedaboutit.
Big news from JAMA today: High C-reactive protein (CRP) levels don't appear to cause heart disease. Cardiologists have debated for years about whether patients should have their CRP levels routinely screened as a risk factor for CV disease, and whether CRP should be targeted therapeutically. The authors of the JAMA genetics study say nope:
"In summary, our mendelian randomization study of more than 28,000 cases and 100,000 controls found no association of variants in the CRP locus and CHD, arguing against a causal role for CRP in atherosclerosis. Moreover, this study suggests that development of therapeutic strategies targeting specific reductions in plasma levels of CRP are unlikely to be fruitful," the researchers write in their article.
I'm sure this study won't be the final word on the subject, but it's a strong argument toward trending back to the basics: Using BP levels, obesity, smoking, cholesterol and family history as risk factors for CHD. Plus ca change...
Labels: c-reactive protein, heart disease
posted by Jessica Berthold at
9:46 AM
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2 Comments:
What about the JUPITER study? How do you take that finding to be consistent with the new JAMA result? My brain hurts just thinking about it.
Makes my brain hurt, too. I will say that there were experts back at the AHA Scientific Sessions meeting last Nov. who noted that JUPITER was more of a statin trial than a CRP vs. non-CRP trial. The AHA president himself said it wasn't clear with JUPITER whether the statins worked b/c they lowered CRP, LDL, or a combo of both.
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