Racial differences in C-reactive protein levels during normal pregnancy

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to characterize serum C-reactive protein (CRP) levels in a diverse population of healthy pregnant women with the use of a high sensitivity assay. STUDY DESIGN: We conducted a cross-sectional analysis of a cohort of 775 pregnant women. CRP was measured on serum specimens that were drawn at < 26 weeks of gestation with highly sensitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay kits. RESULTS: Median CRP was 4.8 mg/L (interquartile range, 0.63-15.7). Black women had higher median CRP values than did white women (7.68 vs 2.59 mg/L; P < .001). Black women demonstrated higher levels of CRP, even after the data were controlled for known confounding factors such as smoking and maternal weight. CONCLUSION: Pregnancy is an inflammatory stressor. The cause of racial differences is unclear but may be important for understanding racial disparities in the incidence of inflammatory disorders such as preterm labor and preeclampsia.