Ultra-Sensitive C-Reactive Protein (US-CRP) in Patients With Periodontal Disease and Risk of Acute Myocardial Infarction

Background: The purpose of this study was to determine if the US-CRP values associated with periodontal disease are risk mark-ers for Acute Myocardial Infarction (AMI) and to determine if the US-CRP levels associated with recent AMI are higher in patients with Periodontal disease.Methods: In order to meet the goal of the study, a case control study design was conducted. The analysis sample consisted of 401 adults (30 - 75 years old), living in Bogota D.C., Colombia, from the Hospital Universitario San Ignacio, the Faculty of Den-tistry at the Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, and the Fundacion Cardio Infantil. Patients with current infections, antibiotic use in the last 3 months, periodontal treatment at least six months be-fore the baseline of this study, mouth ulcerations caused by any type of prosthesis, candidiasis, stomatitis, or less than 7 teeth in mouth were excluded. Periodontal examination for the case group and the control group was conducted by three previously calibrated examiners. Periodontal disease was diagnosed by the presence of bleeding on probing and attachment loss. The Chronic Periodontitis diagnosis was confirmed with these clinical signs, according to the 1999 Armitage classification. The assessment of the US-CRP was performed using the IMMULITE method containing one monoclo-nal and one polyclonal anti-CRP antibody. This method provides a measurement range of 0.1 - 500 mg/L. Statistical analysis of vari-ables was performed with OR and confidence intervals. A multivar-iate analysis was performed to determine the association between the US-CRP increase, periodontal disease and acute myocardial infarction, adjusting for smoking and other confounding factors identified in the analysis.