The current study examined the relation of anger, hostility, and severity of depressive symptoms, alone and in combination, to C-reactive protein (CRP) in healthy men and women.', 'A high sensitivity enzyme linked immuno sorbent assay (ELISA) was used to evaluate CRP levels in a multiethnic sample of 127 healthy, nonsmoking men and women. Fasting blood samples were collected the same day the assessments were done of anger and hostility using the Buss-Perry Aggression Questionnaire (BPAQ) and depressive symptomatology using the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI). A psychological risk factor (PRF) score representing a composite summary indicator of BDI and BPAQ-anger and -hostility was generated using principal component analysis. Log-transformed CRP values were examined using univariate and multivariate analyses adjusting for control variables of age, gender, body mass index (BMI), alcohol use, exercise frequency, ratio of total to high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and family history of premature coronary heart disease (CHD).', 'Log-normalized CRP was correlated with BDI (r = 0.21, p =.02) and BPAQ anger (r = 0.20, p =.02), but not with BPAQ hostility. After adjustment for control variables, BDI (beta = 0.05, p =.011), BPAQ anger (beta = 0.05, p =.007), and the PRF composite score (beta = 0.27, p =.005), but not BPAQ hostility (beta = 0.03, p =.11), were significantly associated with log-normalized CRP.
Is c-reactive protein associated with psychological risk factors of cardiovascular disease in apparently healthy adults?