Publication Details
Abstract
Background: Cardiovascular disease (CVD) remains the leading cause of mortality worldwide and is closely associated with chronic inflammation and glycemic dysregulation. Biomarkers reflecting these pathological processes may improve the early identification and risk assessment of patients with chronic CVD. Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the inflammatory and glycemic profiles of patients with CVD by assessing high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), interleukin-6 (IL-6), tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), and glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c), and to determine their diagnostic and predictive value. Methods: A case-control study was conducted involving 100 participants, including 60 patients with CVD (ischemic heart disease, heart failure, or stroke) and 40 apparently healthy controls. hs-CRP, IL-6, and TNF-α were measured in serum samples, whereas HbA1c was measured in whole blood. Comparisons between groups were performed using the independent-samples t-test. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was used to identify independent predictors of CVD, while receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis evaluated the diagnostic performance of each biomarker. Results: hs-CRP, IL-6, TNF-α, and HbA1c levels were significantly higher in patients with CVD than in healthy controls (all p < 0.001). Logistic regression analysis identified HbA1c, IL-6, and TNF-α as independent predictors of CVD, with HbA1c demonstrating the strongest association. ROC analysis showed that hs-CRP had the highest diagnostic accuracy (AUC = 0.921), followed by HbA1c (AUC = 0.918), whereas IL-6 and TNF-α demonstrated moderate discriminative performance. Conclusion: Inflammatory and glycemic biomarkers are significantly associated with CVD. hs-CRP exhibited excellent diagnostic performance, while HbA1c, IL-6, and TNF-α independently predicted CVD. Combined assessment of inflammatory and glycemic biomarkers may improve cardiovascular risk stratification and support earlier identification of high-risk patients.