C-reactive protein levels and risk of dementia-Observational and genetic studies of 111,242 individuals from the general population

Introduction: Increased plasma levels of C-reactive protein (CRP) in midlife are associated with increased risk of Alzheimer's disease (AD), whereas in older age the opposite association is observed. Whether genetically determined CRP is associated with AD remains unclear.

Methods: A total of 111,242 White individuals from the Copenhagen General Population Study and the Copenhagen City Heart Study were included. Plasma levels of CRP and four regulatory genetic variants in the CRP gene were determined.

Results: For CRP percentile group 1 to 5 (lowest plasma CRP) versus the 50 to 75 group (reference), the hazard ratio for AD was 1.69 (95% confidence interval 1.29-2.16). Genetically low CRP was associated with increased risk of AD in individuals with body mass index ≤25 kg/m² (P = 4 × 10^-6 ).

Discussion: Low plasma levels of CRP at baseline were associated with high risk of AD in individuals from the general population. These observational findings were supported by genetic studies.