C-Reactive Protein and Metabolic Syndrome in Elderly Women A 12-year follow-up study

A ging is associated with increased in-flammatory activity (1,2). SerumC-reactive protein (CRP) is a sensitive marker of systemic low-grade inflamma-tion and is an important predictor of type 2 diabetes (3,4) and cardiovascular dis-ease (CVD) (5). Cross-sectional studies have found associations of CRP with met-abolic syndrome (6–9) and its compo-nents, including obesity (10), insulin resistance (6,7,10), dyslipidemia (10), el-evated blood pressure (11), and endothe-lial dysfunction (10). Prospective studies (3,4) in middle-aged individuals have ob-served that increased serum CRP levels predict the development of metabolic syndrome. No such data are available in the elderly. We tested the hypothesis that changes in serum CRP levels predict the development of metabolic syndrome in a population-based sample of elderly women followed-up for 12 years. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS — The subjects were ex-amined as a part of the large population-based risk factor survey in 1982 (12). The women, aged 60–70 years, were invited for the baseline examinations of the present study in 1991–1992. None of them had diabetes. In 2003, all eligible women were invited for the 12-year fol-low-up study, and 113 of them partici-pated. After excluding women with CRP 10 mg/l or missing data, the final study population included 103 women. The study protocol was approved by the ethics committee of the University of Kuopio. All participants gave written informed consent. Venous blood samples were taken af-ter a 12-h fast. Serum assays for high-sensitivity CRP (13), triglycerides, and HDL cholesterol (14) have been de-scribed earlier. Waist circumference and blood pressure were measured according to the MONICA protocol (15). Diseases, medications, smoking, and alcohol con-sumption were assessed by a self-administered questionnaire. Metabolic syndrome was defined by the Nationa