Lifestyle Changes Can Improve Inflammatory Burden

Modifiable lifestyle risk factors for coronary artery disease (CAD) are associated with increased inflammation levels, so lifestyle changes may improve the inflammatory burden in patients, according to a recent study.

Investigators included patients with angiographically documented CAD from the observational cohort study INTERCATH. Patients with a body mass index of 25 kg/m2 or higher who ate poorly, did not exercise, and smoked were considered to have modifiable risk factors. Of the 1014 patients, 73% were male, the mean age was 69 years, and 48% had a C-reactive protein (CRP) measurement of 2 mg/L or greater.

Patients with modifiable risk factors were significantly overrepresented among those with higher CRP levels, which increased with the incremental number of modifiable risk factors. Multivariable linear regression was adjusted for age, diabetes, gender, and intake of lipid-lowering medications, and independent associations between all modifiable risk factors and log-transformed high-sensitivity assay-measured CRP were found.

Furthermore, individual recalculation of CRP levels with the assumed optimization of modifiable risk factors identified 183 of 483 patients with higher CRP levels who could achieve levels below 2 mg/L by implementing lifestyle changes.

Based on these findings, the investigators said that modifiable risk factors are strongly associated with CRP levels in patients with CAD, and lifestyle modifications should be considered to minimize inflammation in this patient population.

REFERENCE

Hao C, Duan H, Bai S, Wang S. Analysis of risk factors for carotid plaque instability in patients with coronary heart disease. Pathology; May 14, 2021. https://doi.org/10.1096/fasebj.2021.35.S1.00146. Accessed May 17, 2021.