Korean J Med.  2007 Sep;73(3):283-292.

Correlations of C-reactive protein levels and Framingham coronary risk score

• Seok JH
• Kim U
• Lee SH
• Hong GR
• Park JS
• Shin DG
• Kim YJ
• Shim BS

Abstract

BACKGROUND: The Framingham coronary risk score is a simplified coronary prediction tool developed to enable clinicians to estimate cardiovascular risk. C-reactive protein (CRP), a marker of low-grade inflammation, has been extensively studied in several large, prospective, epidemiological studies. However, few studies are available that have directly compared CRP levels with the Framingham coronary risk score.
METHODS
A total of 13,052 individuals that visited our hospital for comprehensive medical tests between January 2002 and June 2003, were enrolled in the study (7,978 men, 5,074 women, mean age 44.8+/-11.0 years). Plasma samples were assayed for determination of CRP level by using a clinically validated high-sensitive assay. The Framingham coronary risk score was calculated by using previously published algorithms that used baseline cardiac risk factors including age, HDL cholesterol level, total cholesterol level, smoking status, blood pressure, and history of diabetes. Pearson correlation coefficients relating these individual risk factor scores and a total score were calculated. The CRP levels were divided into different categories; into 4 groups based on the quartiles of the CRP levels and 3 groups based on the baseline CRP levels of <0.1 mg/dL, 0.1 to 0.3 mg/dL and >0.3 mg/dL. The CRP levels were compared with the Framingham coronary risk score and the Framingham 10-year coronary heart disease risk according to each group.
RESULTS
CRP levels significantly correlated with the Framingham coronary risk score (rtotal=0.373, p<0.01; rmen=0.351, p<0.01; rwomen=0.378, p<0.01). The CRP levels also correlated with individual components of the Framingham coronary risk score, which included age (rtotal=0.302, p<0.01; rmen=0.330, p<0.01; rwomen=0.287, p<0.01), blood pressure (rtotal=0.275, p<0.01; rmen=0.214, p<0.01; rwomen=0.270, p<0.01) and HDL-cholesterol level (rtotal=0.221, p<0.01; rmen=0.198, p<0.01; rwomen=0.221, p<0.01). Furthermore CRP levels correlated with calculated the Framingham 10-year coronary heart disease risk (rtotal=0.366, p<0.01, rmen=0.301, p<0.01, rwomen=0.420, p<0.01). The Framingham coronary risk score and calculated Framingham 10-year coronary heart disease risk increased with each increasing CRP level category(quartiles and risk, p<0.01).
CONCLUSIONS
The CRP level correlated well with the Framingham coronary risk score and is a useful factor for predicting cardiovascular risk in Korean patients.

Keyword

C-reactive protein; Framingham score; Coronary risk

MeSH Terms

Blood Pressure
C-Reactive Protein*
Cholesterol
Cholesterol, HDL
Coronary Disease
Female
Humans
Inflammation
Male
Plasma
Risk Factors
Smoke
Smoking
C-Reactive Protein
Cholesterol
Cholesterol, HDL
Smoke