24-Hour ambulatory blood pressure and C-reactive protein: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Background: Inflammation plays a key role in pathophysiology of hypertension; however the relevance of specific inflammatory mediators, such as C-reactive protein (CRP) is uncertain. We conducted a systematic literature review and meta-analysis to assess the associations between CRP levels and 24-hour blood pressure (BP) values in adult patients. Methods: We performed a systematic search of PubMed/MEDLINE, Embase, Web of Science, and Scopus for human studies published between January 2013 and June 2023. We included cross-sectional and cohort studies. We excluded studies reporting clinically significant inflammation. We calculated the Pearson's correlation coefficients between 24-hour BP indices and the CRP levels weighted by the inverse of their variances. Results: = 0.94). Conclusions: CRP may be an important biomarker of the relationship between inflammation and hypertension. However, the relation may not be linear throughout the entire range of CRP values. Trial Registration: International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews (PROSPERO) Identifier: CRD42023462606.