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. 2022 Jan;48(1):25-35.
doi: 10.1007/s00134-021-06565-1. Epub 2021 Nov 24.

C-reactive protein rise in response to macronutrient deficit early in critical illness: sign of inflammation or mediator of infection prevention and recovery

Catherine Ingels  1 , Lies Langouche  2 , Jasperina Dubois  3 , Inge Derese  2 , Sarah Vander Perre  2 , Pieter J Wouters  2 , Jan Gunst  2 , Michaël Casaer  2 , Fabian Güiza  2 , Ilse Vanhorebeek #  2 , Greet Van den Berghe #  2
Affiliations

C-reactive protein rise in response to macronutrient deficit early in critical illness: sign of inflammation or mediator of infection prevention and recovery

Catherine Ingels et al. Intensive Care Med. 2022 Jan.

Abstract

Purpose: Withholding parenteral nutrition (PN) early in critical illness, late-PN, has shown to prevent infections despite a higher peak C-reactive protein (CRP). We investigated whether the accentuated CRP rise was caused by a systemic inflammatory effect mediated by cytokines or arose as a consequence of the different feeding regimens, and whether it related to improved outcome with late-PN.

Methods: This secondary analysis of the EPaNIC-RCT first investigated, with multivariable linear regression analyses, determinants of late-PN-induced CRP rise and its association with cytokine responses (IL-6, IL-10, TNF-α) in matched early-PN and late-PN patients requiring intensive care for ≥ 3 days. Secondly, with multivariable logistic regression and Cox proportional-hazard analyses, we investigated whether late-PN-induced CRP rises mediated infection prevention and enhanced recovery or reflected an adverse effect counteracting such benefits of late-PN.

Results: CRP peaked on day 3, higher with late-PN [216(152-274)mg/l] (n = 946) than with early-PN [181(122-239)mg/l] (n = 946) (p < 0.0001). Independent determinants of higher CRP rise were lower carbohydrate and protein intakes (p ≤ 0.04) with late-PN, besides higher blood glucose and serum insulin concentrations (p ≤ 0.01). Late-PN did not affect cytokines. Higher CRP rises were independently associated with more infections and lower likelihood of early ICU discharge (p ≤ 0.002), and the effect size of late-PN versus early-PN on these outcomes was increased rather than reduced after adjusting for CRP rise, not confirming a mediating role.

Conclusions: The higher CRP rise with late-PN, explained by the early macronutrient deficits, did not relate to cytokine responses and thus did not reflect more systemic inflammation. Instead of mediating clinical benefit on infection or recovery, the accentuated CRP rise appeared an adverse effect reducing such late-PN benefits.

Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT00512122.

Keywords: CRP; Critical illness; Cytokines; Early macronutrient restriction; Infection; Inflammation.

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