Association between high-sensitivity C-reactive protein and N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide in patients with hepatitis C virus infection

Abstract

Background. Prior study showed HCV-infected patients have increased serum N-Terminal Pro-B-Type Natriuretic Peptide (NT-proBNP) and a possible left ventricular diastolic dysfunction. The objectives of the present paper were to investigate the characteristics of hs-CRP and its correlation with clinical profiles including NT-proBNP and echocardiographic variables in HCV-infected patients. Methods and Results. A total of 106 HCV-infected patients and 106 control healthy individuals were enrolled. The level of serum hs-CRP (median 1.023mg/L, range 0.03∼5.379mg/L) was significantly lower in all 106 patients than that in controls (median 3.147mg/L, range 0.08∼7.36mg/L, P = 0. 012). Although hs-CRP did not correlate significantly with NT-proBNP when all patients and controls were included (r = 0. 169, P = 0. 121), simple regression analysis demonstrated a statistically significant linear correlation between hs-CRP and NT-proBNP in HCV-infected patients group (r = 0. 392, P = 0. 017). Independent correlates of hs-CRP levels (R 2 = 0. 13) were older age (β′ = 0.031, P = 0.025) and NT proBNP (β′ = 0. 024, P = 0. 017). Conclusions. Although the level of serum hs-CRP decreased significantly, there was a significant association between hs-CRP and NT-proBNP in HCV-infected patients. Copyright © 2012 Wenliang Che et al.