Association of Elevated Levels of Inflammatory Marker High-Sensitivity C-Reactive Protein and Hypertension

Abstract

Introduction: The correlation between inflammation and vascular disease is widely accepted. High levels of C-reactive protein (CRP) have been shown to play a role in the process of endothelial dysfunction. Hypertension is described as an inflammatory vascular disease, and is 1 of the most commonly encountered diseases in the outpatient setting. We studied the association between the elevated high sensitivity-CRP (hs-CRP) level and hypertension, as well as other comorbid conditions. Methods: Electronic medical records of 169 adult patients in our internal medicine office were reviewed for hs-CRP levels, and divided into 2 groups: elevated hs-CRP (≥2 mg/L; n = 110) and normal hs-CRP (<2 mg/L; n = 59). Independent T-Test was used to compare the means of continuous variables between the groups if they were normally distributed. Mann Whitney U-Test was used to compare the continuous variables that were non-parametric. Logistic regression was used to compare the dependent and independent variables. Results: Among subjects with elevated hs-CRP, 58.2% had hypertension while 47.5% of subjects with normal hs-CRP levels had hypertension (P =.182). There were higher frequencies of association of coronary artery disease (CAD), cerebrovascular disease and hypothyroidism in elevated hs-CRP group but the differences were not statistically significant. Mean white blood cell count was statistically higher in elevated hs-CRP group (P