Low-grade chronic inflammation and vascular damage in patients with rheumatoid arthritis: don't forget 'metabolic inflammation'.

摘要

Low-grade chronic inflammation has been proposed to play a central role in atherosclerosis, as well as in other types of vascular damage, and measuring the level of inflammatory markers in the blood can provide prognostic information regarding cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk. A serum level of C-reactive protein (CRP), determined with a high-sensitivity assay, is at the moment the best studied inflammatory marker, and CRP has been used to enhance risk prediction based on Framingham risk score and Reynolds risk score in apparently healthy women and men.