C-Reactive protein (CRP) is produced by the liver and elevated CRP levels can be measured in blood in response to inflammation. C-reactive protein levels are known to increase dramatically in response to injury, infection, and inflammation. High-sensitivity CRP (hs-CRP) is more precise than standard CRP when measuring baseline concentrations and enables a measure of chronic inflammation. Atherosclerosis is an inflammatory disease and hs-CRP is known as a biomarker of atheroschlerotic cardiovascular disease risk. Inflammation is involved in many chronic diseases and concern has been raised about the influence of vitamin D deficiency on inflammatory processes. Studies have shown immunomodulating effects of vitamin D and associations have been shown with a large number of autoimmune and inflammatory diseases.
