C‐reactive Protein in Population Samples

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Abstract
The significance of C-reactive protein (CRP) was studied in three different sets of specimens. (a) Raised levels (>10 mg/1) were detected in 2.0% of 380 healthy blood donors from whom two blood specimens, taken at an interval of half a year, were tested. Except for two cases, only one of the two specimens was positive, (b) Raised levels were found three times as frequently (in 6.6%) in a random middle-aged population sample consisting of 531 subjects. More than 40% of the raised levels could be connected to acute respiratory infections, and about 20% to smoking. Five of the 35 subjects (14%) in the population sample with elevated CRP had rheumatoid arthritis, (c) The third set of sera comprised pre-illness specimens from 22 subjects who developed rheumatoid arthritis a few months to five years later. Although it had previously been proved that the majority of these sera contained rheumatoid factors, the CRP concentration was increased in one specimen only.