CHICAGO (Reuters) - High levels of a compound called C-reactive protein may be a sign of a future risk for heart attacks, stroke and cancer, though it does not seem to be a cause, researchers said on Tuesday.
An analysis published in the journal Lancet attempts to resolve a long-standing debate over C-reactive protein, or CRP -- whether it is a warning sign of heart trouble, or a direct cause.
Some studies have suggested the protein, which is associated with inflammation, may be as important as high cholesterol in causing heart disease.
A team led by John Danesh at Britain's University of Cambridge and 269 other scientists pooled data from 54 long-term studies of more than 160,000 people in 18 countries.
They showed that CRP is linked with the future risk of heart attacks, stroke, deaths from various cancers, chronic lung disease, injuries and other conditions.
But most of the findings linking CRP to heart disease were explained by other, already known risk factors, such as smoking, blood pressure, obesity and high cholesterol.
They said the findings reduce the likelihood that CRP is a cause of heart disease.
Dr. S. Matthijs Boekholdt of the Academic Medical Center in Amsterdam, Netherlands, said in a commentary he did not think the study resolved the question of whether CRP leads to a higher risk of heart disease or is merely a sign of it.
But he added that the study suggests CRP may still be useful as a way to see if other drugs, such as statins, are lowering such risks.
A major study last year called Jupiter showed that giving AstraZeneca's cholesterol fighter Crestor, or rosuvastatin, cut deaths, heart attacks and strokes in middle-aged people with healthy cholesterol levels but elevated levels of C-reactive protein.
"Even if CRP turns out to be not directly causal in cardiovascular disease, it might be useful to identify individuals at cardiovascular risk and to quantify the efficacy of our interventions," Boekholdt wrote.

是果不是因：CRP水平可预测心脑血管时间及肿瘤

    研究表明，C反应蛋白不是引起心脏疾病的原因。
    芝加哥（路透社）——研究人员在周四说，尽管C反应蛋白似乎不是引起心脏病发作、中风和癌症的原因，但该复合物水平增高可用来预测发生上述疾病的危险。
    一项刊登于柳叶刀杂志的分析试图解决一个关于C反应蛋白或CRP的长期争论，即是否它是心脏病的警告信号或一个直接的原因。。
    一些研究已经表明，这种和炎症相关的蛋白可能和引起心脏病的高胆固醇相同重要。
    由英国剑桥大学John Danesh领衔的研究小组和其他269名科学家集合了18个国家超过16万名研究对象的54个长期研究的数据。
    他们表明，CRP和心脏病发作、中风、各种癌症引起的死亡、慢性肝病、受伤和其他疾病将来发生某种危险有关。
    但是其他人解释了心脏病和CRP相关性的大多数研究结果，已知的危险因素如吸烟、血压、肥胖症和高胆固醇。
    他们说这些结果可降低CRP是引起心脏病发病的可能性。
    荷兰阿姆斯特丹学院医学中心的S. Matthijs Boekholdt博士在一篇评论中说，他不认为该研究解决了关于CRP是否是引起心脏病的更高危险因素或仅仅是它的预测标志的问题。
    但是他补充，该研究表明CRP作为一种方法去阐明是否其他药物如他汀类药物能降低风险仍然是有价值的。
    去年称为Jupiter的一项重要研究表明，给予抗AstraZeneca's胆固醇药Crestor或罗苏伐他汀能降低健康胆固醇水平的中年男性的死亡、心脏病发作和中风，但是增加了C反应蛋白的含量。
       Boekholdt写道，即使CRP证明不是引起心血管疾病的直接原因，但对鉴别处于心血管危险中的人群和定量化干预措施的疗效仍可能是有用的。