C-Reactive Protein as a Predictor of CVD Risk

In nearly 450,000 adults without known atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (CVD), elevated high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP) independently predicted major adverse CVD events and mortality, outperformed several conventional risk factors, and significantly improved the Systematic COronary Risk Evaluation 2 (SCORE2)-based risk prediction. In this UK Biobank study, participants had a median age of 57 years and stable hsCRP levels over time, and those with hsCRP >3 mg/L had substantially higher risks of major adverse CVD events, CVD death, and all-cause mortality compared with individuals with hsCRP <1 mg/L, with similar findings using a ≥2 mg/L threshold. Associations were consistent across subgroups, and adding hsCRP to SCORE2 yielded a meaningful net reclassification improvement of 14.1%. Together, these results support hsCRP as a clinically relevant biomarker for identifying residual CVD risk and argue for its routine use in primary prevention to refine risk stratification and guide preventive strategies. Source: https://academic.oup.com/eurheartj/