The Role of High-sensitivity C-reactive Protein as a Cardiovascular Risk Marker in Essential Hypertension

Abstract

Background: Hypertension is a common and independent risk factor of cardiovascular disease, especially the coronary artery disease. The primary or essential hypertension can be classified further, based on the blood pressure measurements, done during initial assessment and diagnosis. The risk of complications does not correlate with the stage of hypertension as per the results of many studies done earlier. Hence, it is imperative to look for some way of assessing the risk of future cardiovascular complications in subjects (overt hypertensives as well as pre-hypertensives) to reduce the morbidity associated. The researchers all around the world are currently studying the role of various inflammatory markers as risk assessment tools in hypertension. High-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) is the most studied of all. This study is done with the aim to assess the cardiovascular risk in subjects diagnosed with essential hypertension, comparing their stage of hypertension and hs-CRP levels. Materials and Methods: A total of 150 subjects were selected in this study: 50 as controls, 50 as newly diagnosed/untreated patient group, and 50 as treated patient group. The hs-CRP was assayed using standard immunoturbidimetric assay and using a fully automated analyzer, and values compared statistically. There was a significant increase in the hs-CRP levels in the untreated patient group (3.93 ± 1.01) when compared to the control group (1.07 ± 0.39). Furthermore, the comparison between the hs-CRP levels in the untreated patient group versus treated patient group and showed a significant drop in levels of hs-CRP in the treated group (1.26 ± 0.54). Both of these above findings suggest that hs-CRP, which marks the level of subclinical inflammation, could be used to assess the risk of morbid events and also can be used as a tool to assess the response of patients to treatment offered. Conclusion: Thus, it is concluded that hs-CRP levels are significantly increased in untreated hypertensive subjects and the levels significantly drop the following treatment.