Objective: We examined the association between high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (CRP) levels and the development of diabetes in a general Japanese population.
Research design and methods: A total of 1,759 Japanese subjects, aged 40-79 years and without diabetes (according to American Diabetes Association fasting criteria), were stratified into three groups according to CRP tertiles by sex and followed up prospectively for a mean of 9.0 years.
Results: During the follow-up, 131 subjects (67 men and 64 women) developed diabetes. In both sexes, the age-adjusted cumulative incidence of diabetes increased significantly as the tertiles of CRP levels increased. In multivariate analyses, the risk of developing diabetes was significantly higher in the highest CRP tertile than in the lowest after adjustment for a number of confounding factors (odds ratio 2.63 [95% CI 1.23-5.65] for men and 2.25 [1.01-5.01] for women). In stratified analyses, this CRP-diabetes association was stronger in subjects without obesity or other risk factors related to insulin resistance and in nondrinking subjects.
Conclusions: Our findings suggest that elevated CRP concentration is a significant predictor of diabetes in the general Japanese population, independent of obesity and insulin resistance.