Relationship Between C-Reactive Protein and Glucose Levels in Community-Dwelling Subjects Without Diabetes
The Hisayama Study
- Yasufumi Doi, MD,
- Yutaka Kiyohara, MD,
- Michiaki Kubo, MD,
- Yumihiro Tanizaki, MD,
- Ken Okubo, MD,
- Toshiharu Ninomiya, MD,
- Masanori Iwase, MD and
- Mitsuo Iida, MD
- From the Department of Medicine and Clinical Science, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan
- Address correspondence and reprint requests to Yasufumi Doi, MD, Department of Medicine and Clinical Science, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kyushu University, Maidashi 3-1-1, Higashi-ku, Fukuoka 812-8582, Japan. E-mail: doi{at}intmed2.med.kyushu-u.ac.jp
C-reactive protein (CRP), a marker of systemic inflammation, is emerging as an independent risk factor for cardiovascular disease (1,2). It has also been reported that serum CRP levels are elevated in patients with impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) (3) or diabetes (4). A few prospective studies have shown that increased CRP levels are an independent risk factor for future diabetes (5,6). Although these findings indicate that CRP levels in peripheral blood are closely associated with glucose levels, it remains unclear whether a relationship exists between CRP levels and plasma glucose levels in the pre-diabetic range. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the relationship between CRP concentrations and pre-diabetic plasma glucose levels in a general Japanese population.
RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS
A population-based prospective study of cardiovascular disease has been underway since 1961 in the town of Hisayama, Kyushu Island, Japan. In 1988, as a part of the study, a cross-sectional diabetes survey of Hisayama residents was conducted (7). Of all 3,227 residents aged 40–79 years in the town registry, 2,587 (80.2%) consented to take part in a comprehensive assessment, including a fasting 75-g oral glucose tolerance test. After excluding 82 nonfasting participants, 15 of whom failed to complete the oral glucose tolerance test, 302 with diabetes based on the American Diabetes Association …
