The combined effect of blood pressure and C-reactive protein with the risk of mortality from coronary heart and cardiovascular diseases

Background and aims: Both blood pressure and C-reactive protein (CRP) are individually associated with cardiovascular mortality risk. However, the combined effect of systolic blood pressure (SBP) and CRP on coronary heart disease (CHD) and cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality risk, has not been studied. Methods and results: We evaluated the joint impact of SBP and CRP and the risk of mortality in the Kuopio Ischemic Heart Disease prospective cohort study of 1622 men aged 42–61 years at recruitment with no history of CVD. SBP and CRP were measured. SBP was categorized as low and high (cut-off 135 mmHg) and CRP as low and high (cut-off 1.54 mg/L) based on ROC curves. Multivariable adjusted hazard ratios (HRs) with confidence intervals (CI) were calculated. During a median follow-up of 28 years, 196 cases of CHD and 320 cases of CVD deaths occurred. Elevated SBP (>135 mmHg) combined with elevated (CRP >1.54 mg/L) were associated with CHD and CVD mortality (HR 3.41, 95% CI, 2.20–5.28, p < 0.001) and (HR 2.93, 95% CI, 2.11–4.06, p < 0.001) respectively after adjustment for age, examination year, smoking, alcohol consumption, BMI, Type 2 diabetes, energy expenditure, total cholesterol, serum HDL cholesterol, antihypertensive medication and use of aspirin. Conclusion: The combined effect of both high systolic blood pressure and high CRP is associated with increased risk of future CHD and CVD mortality as compared with both low SBP and low CRP levels in general male Caucasian population.