UC Davis Study Identifies C-Reactive Protein
as Cause of Blood Clot Formation
(California, Yahoo News, 1/11/03)

Ishwarlal Jialal and fellow physicians at the University of California, Davis – supported by the National Institutes of Health, the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation and the American Diabetes Association – have implicated C-reactive proteins (CRP) as a main cause of the arterial inflammation that creates the plaque and blood clots that trigger heart attacks, strokes and vascular disease. The researchers demonstrated that CRP causes the aortic endothelial cells inside the arteries to produce high levels of plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1), an enzyme that stops the body from breaking down clots. The scientists also highlighted an increased risk for people with diabetes and metabolic syndrome by showing that CRP is more active in stimulating PAI-1 when glucose levels are high.