Association of Serum High Sensitivity C-Reactive Protein With Pre-diabetes in Rural Population: A Two-Year Cross-Sectional Study

Introduction: Pre-diabetes is a state of intermediate hyperglycemia. Although it looks benign, pre-diabetes is known to be associated with low-grade inflammation. High sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP) is a sensitive marker to detect low-grade inflammation. Here, we studied whether hsCRP can be used as a biomarker in the early diagnosis of pre-diabetes in a rural population. Methods: A total of 200 participants, including 100 cases and 100 controls who were age- and gender-matched, were enrolled according to the World Health Organisation criteria for pre-diabetes in this study. All the cases and controls underwent a detailed history, physical examination, anthropometric measurements, and biochemical analysis. The biochemical analysis included blood glucose levels, lipid profile, and hsCRP Results: The mean hsCRP in pre-diabetics 2.17 ± 0.72 mg/L was significantly higher than controls (0.66 ± 0.22 mg/L; p < 0.0001). High sensitivity CRP was significantly and positively correlated to age, body mass index (BMI), total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein, cholesterol, and waist-hip ratio. Conclusion: Raised level of hsCRP was associated with pre-diabetes and also correlated with age, higher BMI, higher cholesterol, higher low-density lipoprotein, and higher waist-hip ratio.