Energy restriction and weight loss on very-low-fat diets reduce C-reactive protein concentrations in obese, healthy women

C-reactive protein (CRP) is an inflammatory-response protein that is a strong, independent predictor of cardiovascular mortality. CRP is positively associated with body mass index (BMI). In this study, we investigated the effects of dynamic weight loss on CRP in 83 healthy, obese women (mean BMI, 33.8±0.4 kg/m²; range, 28.2 to 43.8 kg/m²). Subjects were placed on very-low-fat, energy-restricted diets (5700 kJ, 15% fat) for 12 weeks. Weight, waist and hip circumferences, plasma lipids, glucose, and CRP were measured at baseline and after 12 weeks. CRP was positively associated with BMI (r=0.281, P=0.01) and waist circumference (r=0.278, P=0.01) but was not related to other atherosclerosis risk factors. BMI was significantly different between groups split above or below the median for CRP (34.8±0.6 kg/m² vs 33.0±0.5 kg/m², P=0.02). After 12 weeks, weight loss was 7.9±0.3 kg. CRP was significantly decreased by 26% (P<0.001), and a correlation was observed between weight loss and the change in CRP (r=0.309, P=0.005). The variance in the change in CRP was partly explained by initial CRP (13.6%), energy intake (5.4%), and percentage weight loss (4.6%, P=0.001). This study confirms recent observations that BMI is associated with CRP, a marker for low-grade systemic inflammation. Furthermore, we observed that CRP was lowered in proportion to weight loss.