C-Reactive Protein, Quantitative

Useful in predicting risk for cardiovascular disease.

C-reactive protein (also known as CRP) is one of the acute-phase proteins produced by the liver. Acute-phase reactants are a group of proteins whose concentrations increase in blood as a response to inflammatory process. CRP is synthesized in the liver in response to some factors produced by macrophages (e.g., IL-6). There are two types of CRP measurement: quantitative CRP and high-sensitive CRP (hs CRP). Elevated quantitative CRP level can be a sign of many conditions such as infection (like pneumonia or tuberculosis), inflammatory bowel disease, autoimmune inflammatory disease (such as lupus or rheumatoid arthritis), conditions with severe tissue damage (such as trauma and burns), some sorts of cancer (lymphoma), etc. CRP could also be elevated in second half of pregnancy. Quantitative CRP measurement could help in early diagnosis of sepsis. CRP level is usually ordered when there is a possibility that some sort of infection is present in the body, based on the symptomatology of the patient. Also, it could be helpful in monitoring the success of medication in patients with infection.

This test is performed in following conditions such as:

• Suspicion of IBD (inflammatory bowel disease)
• Suspicion of lupus /rheumatoid arthritis/ scleroderma
• Suspicion of lymphoma

Also Known As: CRP