Background: The aim of this study was to determine whether a causative relationship exists between the development of liver damage and increased high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (HsCRP) levels by long-term follow-up in Japanese workers.
Methods: The target participants comprised 7830 male workers in a Japanese steel company. The prospective cohort study was performed over a 6-year period, and annual health screening information was analyzed by pooled logistic regression. The endpoint, regarded as the development of liver damage, was defined as aspartate aminotransferase (AST) ≥ 40 IU/L.
Results: A significant relationship between the development of liver damage and increased HsCRP levels was observed after adjusting for confounding factors such as various physiological and blood chemistry parameters and lifestyle factors. The odds ratio of a 1.5-fold increase in HsCRP was 1.07 (95% confidence interval: 1.03-1.10, p < 0.001).
Conclusions: The results suggested that an increase of HsCRP is associated with the development of liver damage.
Keywords: aminotransferase; cohort studies; high-sensitive C-reactive protein; liver damage; workload.