52 SUB-CLINICAL IMFLAMMATION CONTRIBUTES TO THE EARLY DEVELOPMENT OF CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASE IN THE NON-HYPERENSIVE YOUNG HEALTHY PREFESSIONALS

Introduction Many demographic and metabolic factors contribute to cardiovascular disease (CVD). Recently, systemic inflammation was proposed to be a new risk factor for CVD. The common carotid artery intima-media thickness (IMT) was found to be a reliable and valid marker of CVD. We analyzed the relationship between IMT and clinical contributors including demographic and metabolic variables and an inflammatory marker, C-reactive protein (CRP). Methods As a part of our ongoing prospective study of job stress on CVD, a group of 88 non-hypertensive (BP Results We found that IMT was significantly associated with smoking history, age, ethnicity, LDL, fasting glucose and CRP levels. After adjusting for all of these demographic and metabolic factors, the inflammatory marker CRP level remained significantly positively associated with IMT. Summary Our results suggest that both traditional risk factors including smoking, age, ethnicity, hypercholesterolemia and insulin resistance as well as the newly proposed systemic inflammation contribute to the early development of CVD. The sub-clinical inflammatory marker CRP is an independent risk factor of CVD in the apparently healthy, non-hypertensive young professionals.