Increasing evidence suggests that
high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (
hs-CRP) is associated with cardiometabolic risk factors (CMRF) while being also related to
micronutrient deficiencies. As part of a project on the double burden of under- and
overnutrition in sub-Saharan Africa, we assessed the relationship between
hs-CRP and both CMRF and
micronutrient deficiencies in a population-based cross-sectional study carried out in the Northern district of Ouagadougou, the capital city of Burkina Faso. We randomly selected 330 households stratified by income tertile. In each income stratum, 110 individuals aged 25-60 years and having lived in Ouagadougou for at least 6 months were randomly selected, and underwent anthropometric measurements and blood sample collection. The prevalence of high
hs-CRP was 39.4 %, with no sex difference.
Vitamin A-deficient subjects (12.7 %) exhibited significant risk of elevated
hs-CRP (OR 2.5; P= 0.015). Serum
ferritin was positively correlated with log
hs-CRP (r 0.194; P= 0.002). The risk of elevated
hs-CRP was significant in subjects with BMI ≥ 25 kg/m² (OR 6.9; 95 % CI 3.6, 13.3),
abdominal obesity (OR 4.6; 95 % CI 2.2, 7.3) and high body fat (OR 10.2; 95 % CI 5.1, 20.3) (P< 0.001, respectively). Independent predictors of
hs-CRP in linear regression models were waist circumference (β = 0.306; P= 0.018) and serum TAG (β = 0.158; P= 0.027). In this sub-Saharan population,
hs-CRP was consistently associated with adiposity. Assuming that plasma
hs-CRP reflects future risk of cardiovascular events, intervention which reduces CRP, or chronic and acute nutrition conditions associated with it, could be effective in preventing their occurrence particularly in sub-Saharan Africa.