High sensitivity C-reactive protein : a useful tool in risk assessment of patients with abdominal obesity?

Abstract

Background: Many obese will eventually develop diabetes and cardiovascular disease. The metabolic syndrome is a cluster of risk factor for these diseases, and low-grade inflammation has been linked to all three conditions. Thesis aims: To investigate if high-sensitivity C-reactive protein can be a useful tool in risk assessment for the development of the metabolic syndrome in abdominally obese patients. Also, to explore what recent studies have found regarding the significance of the abdominal adipose tissue is in this syndrome. Material and method: The thesis is a litterature study. The medical database PubMed was used to search for relevant articles. Results & conclusion: Increasing waist circumference is independently associated with hs-CRP, indicating that abdominal obesity is associated with low-grade inflammation. Hs-CRP correlates with individual factors in the metabolic syndrome, but it does not seem to add any information to the formal criteria. It can not predict the presence of the metabolic syndrome.