Association of Elevated Serum hs-CRP Levels with the Development of Cardiovascular Disease in Known Cases of Hypothyroidism: A Case-control Study

Introduction: Hypothyroidism is linked with an increased risk of Cardiovascular Diseases (CVD) and associated risk factors, but there is little documented information available about its association with high-sensitivity C-Reactive Protein (hs-CRP). Aim: To analyse the association between hs-CRP and CVD in hypothyroidism. Materials and Methods: This case-control study was carried out among 159 participants (87 cases and 72 controls) from January 2015 to August 2016 in the Department of Biochemistry, in collaboration with Department of Medicine, Subharti Medical College, its associated Chatrapati Shivaji Subharti (CSS)Hospital, Meerut,Uttar Pradesh, India. The samples were divided into two groups, Cases (hypothyroid patients) and Control group. Blood sample (3 mL) was collected from each subject. Serum was separated from blood by centrifuging blood at 3000 rpm for 10 minutes. Estimation of hs-CRP was done on semiautoanalyser (Robonikreadwell touch) in clinical biochemistry laboratory. Lipid profile and other routine investigations were done by Vitros-250 autoanalyser Johnson & Johnson, USA. All the statistical analysis was done by using the Windows based Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 18.0. Student’s t-test and Pearson correlation analysis was applied and p-values <0.05 were taken as the level of significance. Results: The mean age of cases and controls were 47.50±7.9 and 41.66±9.3 respectively. The mean hs-CRP values in the subjects with hypothyroidism (cases) was 3.41 mg/L and in control was 2.10 mg/L (p-value <0.0001). The weight and waist circumference, were also significantly different (p-value <0.05) between the study groups. The hs-CRP had an insignificant correlation with the BMI (r=0.12, p=0.23) as well as with waist circumference (r=0.15, p=0.14). Non significant correlation was found in between the hs-CRP and the blood pressure. Conclusion: This study concludes that hs-CRP levels were significantly higher in patients with hypothyroidism when compared to the control group. A significant correlation was found between cardiovascular risk factors like total cholestrol and High density lipoprotein (HDL) and hs-CRP levels.