C-reactive protein and its role in the pathogenesis of myocardial infarction.

C-reactive protein (CRP), the classical acute phase reactant, has for some time contributed to both the diagnosis and management of a wide range of infective and inflammatory conditions. More recently with the advent of high sensitivity assays, the hypothesis that atherosclerosis is an inflammatory disease has been strengthened. "Elevated" CRP values predict a poor outcome for patients suffering from unstable coronary syndromes as well myocardial infarction, and large epidemiological surveys have shown that baseline values of CRP can predict future cardiovascular events in those at risk, as well as those otherwise well. Increasingly a direct role for CRP in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis and post-myocardial infarction inflammation has also been suggested, and CRP itself may prove to be a future therapeutic target in the treatment of atherosclerosis and its consequences.