Elevated Levels of Acute-Phase Proteins and Plasminogen Activator Inhibitor-1 Predict the Development of Type 2 Diabetes

Elevated serum levels of acute-phase proteins, indicating chronic subclinical inflammation, have been associated with cardiovascular disease as well as the insulin resistance syndrome. Chronic inflammation may also be a risk factor for developing type 2 diabetes. We studied the concentrations of C-reactive protein (CRP), fibrinogen, and plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1) in 1,047 nondiabetic subjects in relation to incident diabetes within 5 years in the Insulin Resistance Atherosclerosis Study. Subjects with diabetes at follow-up (n = 144) had higher baseline levels of fibrinogen (mean +/- SD; 287.8 +/- 58.8 vs. 275.1 +/- 56.0 mg/dl; P = 0.013) as well as of CRP (median [interquartile range]; 2.40…