Abstract: AIM: To investigate the correlation between high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) and hypertension and blood pressure variation. METHODS: A stratified cluster sampling method was conducted to select people over the age of 40 from community based population. Logistic regression and stratification analysis method were applied to evaluate the association of hs-CRP with hypertension. RESULTS: There were no statistical differences of hs-CRP between hypertensive or without medicine treatment group and control group. Remarkably, hypertensive in female had high hs-CRP level (2.67±2.82) mg/L than that of control group (2.14±2.35) mg/L,t=2.1034, P=0.043. After adjusted for covariates, Logistic regression analysis indicated that there was significant association between hs-CRP and hypertension in smoking population, OR(95%CI)=1.145(1.001-1.309), P=0.048. The association was still significant even excluding patients with medicine treatment and OR(95%CI)=1.252 (1.041-1.503), P=0.017 and elevated hs-CRP (>2.4 mg/L) increased risk of hypertension significantly as well, OR(95%CI)＝5.065(1.597-16.067), P＝0.006. For normotensives and hypertensive without medicine treatment, individuals with elevated hs-CRP (>2.4 mg/L) had higher systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP) and mean arterial blood pressure (MAP) than that of normal hs-CRP (≤2.4 mg/L) in female whereas not in male. CONCLUSION: The finding suggests that elevated hs-CRP was an independent risk factor for hypertension and there was a strong association smoking population.

Key words: Hypertension, High sensitivity-CRP, Case-control study