Asztalos, Bela F.Horan, Michael S.Horvath, Katalin V.McDermott, Ann Y.Chalasani, Naga P.Schaefer, Ernst J.2025-03-282025-03-282014-10-09Asztalos BF, Horan MS, Horvath KV, McDermott AY, Chalasani NP, Schaefer EJ. Obesity associated molecular forms of C-reactive protein in human. PLoS One. 2014;9(10):e109238. Published 2014 Oct 9. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0109238https://hdl.handle.net/1805/46634Objective: To describe novel C-reactive protein (CRP) molecular forms (mf) in human plasma. Design and methods: Five novel CRP-mfs, disctinct from the previously described native (nCRP) and modified (mCRP) C-reactive proteins, were separated from human plasma by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and immunodetected by western blot in subjects with or without increased BMI, cardiovascular disease (CVD), and diabetes (n = 1800). Results: Three of the five CRP-mfs were present in all samples. One, CRPmf-4, was present in a subgroup of subjects and its presence was associated with elevated body mass index (BMI). CRP-mf-5 was present in about 2% of the subjects and was not associated with any other parameters. The presence or distribution of the 5 CRP-mfs were not Ca2+-dependent. Crossed immuno-localization experiments indicated that none of the CRP-mfs were complexed with any of the lipoprotein classes or with signature proteins of the complement-factor. Moreover, the distribution of CRP-mfs were not significantly correlated with plasma CRP levels. CRP-mf-4 was significantly associated with increased BMI, but not with other parameters of the metabolic syndrome (HDL-C and triglyceride levels, and diabetes). Conclusions: We have identified five new CRP-mfs out of which CRP-mf-4 was significantly associated with obesity. We have shown that oligomerization of CRP was not calcium dependent. We hypothesize that adipose tissue produces a factor which influences the formation of CRP mf-4. CRP-mfs might be used as an obesity-associated inflammatory marker.en-USAttribution 4.0 InternationalAdipose tissueCardiovascular diseasesMetabolic syndromeObesityLipoproteinsArticle