(10-11-07) EASD 2007: Meta-analysis confirms association between CRP and type 2 diabetes

Elevated levels of the inflammatory marker C-reactive protein (CRP) are associated with a significantly increased risk of type 2 diabetes, a meta-analysis has shown.

Specialists at centres in Cambridge, UK, identified a total of 13 prospective long-term (more than 3 years) studies of the association between CRP and type 2 diabetes, published up to March 2007. Of these, eight were prospective cohort studies (with a total of 1,378 incident diabetes cases out of 23,438 study participants) and five were nested case-control studies (with a total of 1,769 diabetes cases and 2,174 controls).

The relative risk estimate for type 2 diabetes in people with CRP levels in the upper third at baseline was 1.76 (95% confidence interval 1.56-1.99), compared with people with CRP levels in the lowest third.

The researchers reported at the EASD meeting that the findings suggested that an "elevated CRP level is associated with an increased risk of type 2 diabetes, independent of age, sex, and possibly some established risk factors for diabetes, such as family history, obesity and/or ethnicity." They noted that the number of studies was relatively small, and that there was substantial heterogeneity between individual studies, and said further epidemiological data were needed to clarify the role and mechanisms of CRP in increasing the risk of type 2 diabetes.

Source: European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD) annual meeting, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 17-21 September 2007, presentation number 0388.

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