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C‐reactive protein levels are associated with cerebral small vessel‐related lesions
Author(s) -
Mitaki S.,
Nagai A.,
Oguro H.,
Yamaguchi S.
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
acta neurologica scandinavica
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.967
H-Index - 95
eISSN - 1600-0404
pISSN - 0001-6314
DOI - 10.1111/ane.12440
Subject(s) - c reactive protein , medicine , inflammation
Objective Inflammation has received increasing attention as a cause of stroke. Although several lines of evidence suggest that inflammatory processes have a role in arteriosclerotic vascular events, their involvement remains to be determined. The purpose of this study was to examine the associations between serum high‐sensitive C‐reactive protein (hs‐ CRP ) levels and cerebral small vessel ( CSV )‐related lesions as a manifestation of arteriosclerosis. Materials and Methods Neurologically normal subjects without any history of neurologic or psychiatric diseases were enrolled ( n = 519). All the participants underwent magnetic resonance imaging ( MRI ), and their CSV ‐related lesions (i.e., lacunar infarcts, cerebral microbleeds, deep white matter hyperintensity, and periventricular hyperintensity) were evaluated. The serum levels of hs‐ CRP were evaluated as common inflammatory markers. Results Subjects with higher C‐reactive protein ( CRP ) levels had more lacunar infarcts ( P = 0.02). After adjusting for the traditional cardiovascular risk factors, higher hs‐ CRP levels were still associated with the presence of lacunar infarcts [odds ratio for the highest vs the lowest tertile of hs‐ CRP , 3.57 (95% confidence interval: 1.30–9.80)]. These associations did not change when the logarithmically transformed values for hs‐ CRP were included. Furthermore, subjects with higher CRP levels had more cerebral microbleeds ( P = 0.03), more severe deep white matter hyperintensity ( P = 0.04), and periventricular hyperintensity ( P = 0.04); however, these associations were not observed after adjusting for the cardiovascular risk factors. Conclusions Higher levels of hs‐ CRP were associated with lacunar infarcts. Thus, inflammatory processes may be involved in the pathogenesis of small‐vessel disease.