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Association between C-Reactive Protein and Adiposity in Women

Departments of Medicine and Internal Medicine (P.V.) and Medical Genetics (J.S.B.), Cardiomet (P.-M.M.-V.), and University Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine (M.B., F.M., P.-M.M.-V., F.P., V.R.), Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois and University of Lausanne, 1005 Lausanne, Switzerland; and GlaxoSmithKline (V.M.), King of Prussia, Pennsylvania 19406

Address all correspondence and requests for reprints to: Murielle Bochud, M.D., Ph.D., University Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois and University of Lausanne, Rue du Bugnon 17, 1005 Lausanne, Switzerland. E-mail: murielle.bochud{at}chuv.ch.

Context: The link between C-reactive protein (CRP) and adiposity deserves to be further explored, considering the controversial diabetogenic role of CRP.

Objective: We explored the potential causal role of CRP on measures of adiposity.

Design: We used a Mendelian randomization approach with the CRP and LEPR genes as instrumental variables in a cross-sectional Caucasian population-based study comprising 2526 men and 2836 women. Adiposity was measured using body mass index (BMI), fat and lean mass estimated by bioelectrical impedance, and waist circumference.

Results: Log-transformed CRP explained by the rs7553007 single-nucleotide polymorphism tagging the CRP gene was significantly associated with BMI [regression coefficient: 1.22 (0.18; 2.25), P = 0.02] and fat mass [2.67 (0.65; 4.68), P = 0.01] but not with lean mass in women, whereas no association was found in men. Log-transformed CRP explained by the rs1805096 LEPR single-nucleotide polymorphism was also positively associated, although not significantly, with BMI or fat mass. The combined CRP-LEPR instrument explained 2.24 and 0.77% of CRP variance in women and men, respectively. Log-transformed CRP explained by this combined instrument was significantly associated with BMI [0.98 (0.32; 1.63), P = 0.004], fat mass [2.07 (0.79; 3.34), P = 0.001], and waist [2.09 (0.39; 3.78), P = 0.01] in women but not men.

Conclusion: Our data suggest that CRP is causally and positively related to BMI in women and that this is mainly due to fat mass. Results on the combined CRP-LEPR instrument suggest that leptin may play a role in the causal association between CRP and adiposity in women. Results in men were not significant.