Polymorphism of the C-reactive protein gene is associated with mortality in bacteraemia.

C-reactive protein (CRP) is an important molecule in the defence against bacterial infections. To discover if variation in the CRP gene is associated with clinical outcome of bacteraemia, we investigated 147 microbiologically verified bacteraemia patients (mean age 59 y, range 19-93 y) and determined whether CRP -717A>G, +1059G>C or +1444C>T single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were associated with clinical outcome of bacteraemia and/or CRP concentration caused by Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus pneumoniae, beta-haemolytic streptococci or Escherichia coli. The patients were genotyped for CRP gene polymorphisms, CRP was measured and clinical outcomes were recorded. The CRP -717A>G, a promoter region polymorphism was strongly associated with mortality from Streptococcus pneumoniae but did not correlate with plasma CRP concentration. These results suggest that mortality from Streptococcus pneumoniae may be associated with polymorphism of the promoter region of the CRP gene.