CRP concentration in obesity and its relation with insulin resistance

Objective To investigate the relation between insulin resistance and C-reactive protein(CRP) concentration in obese individuals. Methods 104 obese individuals and 104 non-obese healthy individuals were recruited for the study. Blood sample was taken after an overnight fast. CRP, insulin, lipid levels were measured. The obese individuals were subdivided into two groups: insulin-resistant (IR) group and insulin-sensitive (IS) group. CRP,insulin, lipid levels were measured again after weight loss. Results CRP, insulin concentrations were significantly higher in the obese group than in the control (P 0.01). In obese group, CRP and insulin levels were higher in IR subgroup than in IS subgroup (P 0.01). After weight loss, Significant (P 0.01) decreases in insulin and CRP concentrations were only seen in IR subgroup. Only the correlation coefficient between CRP and insulin level is of statistical significance(r= 0.56,P 0.01). Conclusion CRP concentrations are elevated in insulin-resistant obese individuals and fall in parallel with improvements in insulin resistance. The relation between CRP concentrations and insulin resistance is independent of obesity.