Evaluation of serum levels of C-reactive protein and lipid profiles in patients with chronic periodontitis and/or coronary heart disease in an ethnic Han population

Objective: To investigate the relationship of coronary heart disease (CHD)-associated factors- C-reactive protein (CRP) and lipid profiles-with periodontitis in an ethnic Han population. Method and Materials: Forty healthy individuals as control, 40 patients with chronic periodontitis (CP), 28 patients with CHD, and 47 patients with both CP and CHD were included in the study. Serum CRP levels, lipid profile concentrations, and three periodontal clinical parameters (probing depth, clinical attachment level, and bleeding on probing) were measured and analyzed. The chi-square test, Student-Newman-Keuls test, analysis of covariance, and a logistic regression analysis were used in this study. Results: The mean CRP level of patients with CP alone was 2.4 ± 1.5 mg/L. There were significant differences in mean serum CRP levels among groups after confounders were adjusted, with CP+CHD patients having the highest level (7.3 ± 5.7 mg/L) and the controls the lowest (1.0 ± 0.6 mg/L) (P .001). Mean HDL cholesterol level of CP patients (1.1 ± 0.7 mmol/L) was significantly lower than that of controls (1.4 ± 0.6 mmol/L) (P .05), although it was significantly higher than that of the other two groups with CHD (0.8 ± 0.5 mmol/L and 0.7 ± 0.4 mmol/L) (P .001). Significant correlations of CRP and HDL cholesterol with the three clinical periodontal parameters were apparent (P .05). CRP and HDL cholesterol were found to be significantly associated with an increased frequency of CHD in this regression model (OR = 3.7 and OR = 1.9, respectively, P .05). Conclusions: In an ethnic Han population with a low normal range of serum CRP levels, chronic periodontitis is associated with increased CRP levels and decreased HDL cholesterol concentrations, which suggests that there may be some relationship between periodontal inflammation and CHD. Keywords: chronic periodontitis, coronary heart disease, C-reactive protein, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, inflammation, lipid profiles