CRP is or is not a reliable marker of ischaemic heart disease?

Abstract

In recent years a growing body of evidence has emphasized the role of C-reactive protein (CRP) as a marker of future cardiovascular events. CRP is a pentameric molecule widely utilized as a marker of infections and inflammation. The evidence that inflammation plays an important role in the pathogenesis of coronary artery disease and in plaque destabilization has lead to use of CRP as a marker of cardiovascular disease as well. First described as a component of the inflammatory pathway in acute coronary syndromes, CRP has been consistently found to be associated with the risk of future events in no-ST elevation acute coronary syndromes, independently of other risk factors, including troponine. Subsequently CRP has been described as a powerful marker of risk of future events in large populations of apparently healthy subjects. So far there is very little doubt that CRP represents a reliable marker of cardiovascular events, but some issues remain unanswered such as why CRP is a good marker of cardiovascular events and whether or not a better inflammatory marker exists. It must be stressed that CRP, because of its analytical and biological properties and the large amount of available data, is the only inflammatory marker accepted for clinical use.