Introducing the wide range C-reactive protein (wr-CRP) into clinical use for the detection of microinflammation

Background: The determination of low grade inflammation in apparently healthy individuals (microinflammation) has prognostic significance in terms of future vascular events and accelerated atherothrombotic disease. Methods: We compared the Bayer wide range (wr)-C-reactive protein (CRP) immunoturbidometric assay on the ADVIA 1650 system to the Dade Behring high sensitivity (hs)-CRP on the BNII Nephelometer in 1446 apparently healthy individuals having a relatively low (< 10 mg/l) concentration. The correlation between the 2 assays was also analyzed in relation to other commonly used microinflammatory biomarkers. Results: A significant (p < 0.0005) correlation was noted between the hs-CRP and the wr-CRP for the entire cohort (r = 0.99) as well as for both women (r = 0.99 n = 483) and men (r = 0.99 n = 963). The mean difference between the measures (hs-CPP minus wr-CRP) was - 0.039 (SD 0.317). The Deming regression results for the entire cohort showed a slope of 1.112 +/- 0.004 and an intercept of - 0.263 +/- 0.01. Conclusions: The Bayer wr-CRP assay performed presents a reasonable alternative to the Behring Dade hs-CRP assay. The advantages of the wr-CRP assay are its online and real time availability as well as lower costs. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.