Statins and C-reactive protein: Considering a novel marker of cardiovascular risk

Landmark intervention trials have validated the importance of lipid control in reducing the incidence of coronary ischemic events, over a range of baseline lipid levels. With the release of the third iteration of the National Cholesterol Education Program's Adult Treatment Panel guidelines, there is renewed debate about the appropriate use of pharmacologic therapies in individual patients, especially in primary prevention. Markers of low-grade inflammation may capture the inflammatory aspect of atherosclerosis and may prove to be useful clinical predictors of excess coronary risk. C-reactive protein, an acute-phase reactant protein, appears to be one such promising measurement and may have important implications for the optimal targeting of statin therapy.