Background: The relationship between C-reactive protein (CRP) concentration and hypertension and interactions between CRP and other risk factors on hypertension have not been studied in Mongolian people of Inner Mongolia, China.
Methods and results: A total of 767 hypertensives and 762 non-hypertensives people aged 30 or more were selected as participants for the case-control study. Lifestyle risk factors and family history of hypertension were investigated, body weight measured, fasting plasma glucose, blood lipids, insulin and CRP examined for all participants. After adjustment for covariates, high level of CRP (>or=2.54) were associated with hypertension and the odds ratio (OR) was 1.337. The participants were also divided into even quartiles of CRP, compared to the lowest quartile, multivariate adjusted OR were 1.144, 1.330, 1.556 for the second, third and fourth quartiles of CRP, respectively. There were significant interactions between increased CRP and cigarette smoking, and insulin resistance on hypertension, corresponding relative excess risk due to interactions were 0.799 and 0.651, respectively.
Conclusion: Increased CRP was associated with hypertension, there were interactions between increased CRP and cigarette smoking, and insulin resistance on hypertension in Mongolian people.