A Lead <i>ANRIL</i> Polymorphism Is Associated with Elevated CRP Levels in Periodontitis: A Pilot Case-Control Study

<div><p>Elevated high sensitive C-reactive protein (hsCRP) is a marker for systemic inflammation and a risk marker for atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ACVD), and has also been associated with periodontitis. Inter-individual variation for hsCRP in periodontitis has been shown. <i>ANRIL</i> is the strongest genetic susceptibility locus for both periodontitis and ACVD, and it is speculated that genetic variation in <i>ANRIL</i> may modulate inflammatory processes. Therefore, we explored the possible association between hsCRP plasma levels and a leading <i>ANRIL</i> single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) in periodontitis patients and controls. 171 healthy subjects with North European descent (115 periodontitis and 56 controls) were included in this case-control study. hsCRP levels were determined and subjects were genotyped for the leading <i>ANRIL</i> SNP rs1333048. In a multivariate analysis, periodontitis, female gender, increasing BMI and homozygosity for the major allele (AA-genotype) of rs1333048 were significantly associated with elevated hsCRP plasma levels (p = 0.012, p = 0.004, p = 0.007 and p = 0.003, respectively). Periodontitis patients with rs1333048 AA-genotype showed higher levels of hsCRP than those carrying the minor C allele (median: 4.5 mg/L vs. 1.6 mg/L, p_adjusted = 0.007). This study is the first to show that, in addition to gender and BMI, also a leading SNP in <i>ANRIL</i> is explanatory for inter-individual variation in hsCRP levels in periodontitis patients of North European descent.</p></div