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Differential association of C-reactive protein with adiposity in men and women in an Aboriginal community in northeast Arnhem Land of Australia

An Erratum to this article was published on 05 September 2006

Abstract

Objective:

To examine the relationship between C-reactive protein (CRP), adiposity and other metabolic abnormalities in an Aboriginal community in Northern Australia.

Design:

Cross-sectional analysis of data obtained between 2001 and 2003 from 379 Aboriginal people residing in a geographically isolated community.

Results:

Mean (95% CI) CRP in women and men was 4.06 cholesterol (3.53, 4.66) mg/l and 3.42 (2.94, 3.97) mg/l, respectively (P=NS). The prevalence of the metabolic syndrome (US National Education program (NCEP) definition) was significantly higher for women than men (41 vs 18%, χ2=20.94, P<0.001). C-reactive protein correlated strongly with adiposity in women (waist circumference, waist to hip ratio and body mass index; r0.514, P<0.01) but much less strongly in men (r0.221, P<0.05). In a multivariate stepwise linear regression model, waist circumference was the strongest independent predictor explaining 35% of CRP concentration variance in women, but only 5.4% in men (WHR). Incremental increases in CRP concentration across four BMI categories were significant in women (Plinear trend<0.001) but not in men.

Conclusions:

High CRP levels in the surveyed population are consistent with the high prevalence of vascular disease morbidity and mortality in Aboriginal Australians. The relationship of CRP with increasing body fat was strong and consistent in women but not in men. Prospective studies are needed to elucidate the role of CRP (if any) as a predictive marker for cardiovascular events in this high-risk population.

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Peter Libby, Julie E. Buring, … Eldrin F. Lewis

Abbreviations

CVD:

cardiovascular disease

CRP:

C-reactive protein

IL:

interleukin

BMI:

body mass index

AHA:

American Heart Association

LDL-C:

low density lipoprotein cholesterol

HDL-C:

high density lipoprotein cholesterol

HbA1c:

glycated haemoglobin

NCEP:

US National Cholesterol Education Program

FPG:

fasting plasma glucose

ACR:

urine albumin to creatinine ratio

CI:

confidence intervals

r :

correlation coefficient

WHR:

waist to hip ratio

HOMA:

Homeostasis model assessment

HREC:

Human Research Ethics Committee

s.e.m.:

standard error of the mean

CHD:

coronary heart disease.

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Acknowledgements

This study was funded by grants from the National Health and Medical Research Council (#124319). The author is a recipient of a university postgraduate award scholarship of the Charles Darwin University, Darwin NT, and was supported in part by the Cooperative Research Centre for Aboriginal Health, Darwin NT. KGR was a Vic Health Public Health Research Fellow and AJJ is a National Heart Foundation Clinical Research Fellow. We would like to thank the Community Council and all the participants in this study, and to MSHR staff members Joseph Fitz, Maria Scarlett and Louise Maple-Brown. Technical support was provided by Connie Karschimkus, University of Melbourne, Department of Medicine, St Vincent's Hospital Melbourne.

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Shemesh, T., Rowley, K., Jenkins, A. et al. Differential association of C-reactive protein with adiposity in men and women in an Aboriginal community in northeast Arnhem Land of Australia. Int J Obes 31, 103–108 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ijo.0803350

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