Elevated Serum C - reactive protein level in obese pregnant women

Objective: to find out association of serum c - reactive protein (crp) with obesity as an inflammatory marker in obese pregnant women as compared to non-obese pregnant women. methods: this comparative observational study was carried out in the department of biochemistry,peoples medical college for girls nawabshah,during the period of january 2010 to december 2010. a total of eighty pregnant women of age range 20 - 40 years in their 3 rd trimester were recruited in the study. of these forty were obese and forty non-obese women. non-obese pregnant women were grouped as control group. serum c-reactive protein was measured by elisa method. data analysis including independent t-test and correlation analysis was carried out. p value up to 0.05 was considered significant. results: serum c - reactive protein concentrations were significantly higher (p<0.001) in obese pregnant women as compared to control group (9.1 ± 0.12 mg /l vs 4.3 ± 0.16 mg /l),which indicate ongoing low grade systemic inflammation at more advanced level in obese pregnant women. conclusion: in pregnant women,higher bmi is associated with higher c-reactive protein concentration. these findings highlight a state of low grade systemic inflammation in obese pregnant women. measures should be taken to control profound weight increase during pregnancy to avoid complications during or after pregnancy.