Distributions of C-Reactive Protein and its Association With Metabolic Syndrome in Middle-Aged and Older Chinese People

Distributions of C-Reactive Protein and its Association With Metabolic Syndrome in Middle-Aged and Older Chinese People Xingwang Ye, Zhijie Yu, Huaixing Li, Oscar H. Franco, Yong Liu, Xu Lin We conducted a population-based cross-sectional survey in 2005 in Beijing and Shanghai, with a total of 1,458 men and 1,831 women age 50 to 70 years. The median C-reactive protein (CRP) level was 0.68 mg/l among the study population. No gender differences were observed. The prevalence of metabolic syndrome (MetS) progressively increased with elevated CRP levels. The odds ratio comparing extreme quartile of CRP levels for MetS was 5.97 (95% confidence interval 4.75 to 7.51) after adjustment for relevant confounders. The associations were observed in obese and non-obese participants. Our data suggest that CRP is strongly associated with MetS in spite of the low level of CRP among middle-aged and older Chinese.