Radenovic, Sara (57000170900)Sara (57000170900)RadenovicLoncar, Goran (55427750700)Goran (55427750700)LoncarBusjahn, Andreas (7004503495)Andreas (7004503495)BusjahnApostolovic, Svetlana (13610076800)Svetlana (13610076800)ApostolovicZdravkovic, Marija (24924016800)Marija (24924016800)ZdravkovicKarlicic, Valentina (57201378162)Valentina (57201378162)KarlicicVeskovic, Jovan (56951285600)Jovan (56951285600)VeskovicTahirovic, Elvis (24339336300)Elvis (24339336300)TahirovicButler, Javed (57203521637)Javed (57203521637)ButlerDüngen, Hans-Dirk (16024171900)Hans-Dirk (16024171900)Düngen2025-06-122025-06-122018https://doi.org/10.1007/s00392-017-1195-xhttps://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85044534848&doi=10.1007%2fs00392-017-1195-x&partnerID=40&md5=7062b980d44344ed4c6ed966ffe51de3https://remedy.med.bg.ac.rs/handle/123456789/6429Background: Elevated C-reactive protein (CRP) is associated with adverse outcomes in heart failure (HF) patients. Beta-blocker therapy may lower CRP levels. Methods and results: To assess if the changes of high-sensitivity (hs) CRP levels in HF patients over 12-week titration with beta-blockers correlate with functional capacity, plasma hs-CRP levels were measured in 488 HF patients [72.1 ± 5.31 years, LVEF 40% (33/50)]. Hs-CRP, NT-proBNP and 6-min-walk-test (6MWT) were assessed at baseline and at week 12. Patients were divided based on hs-CRP changes (cut-off > 0.3 mg/dl) into low–low (N = 225), high–high (N = 132), low–high (N = 54), high–low (N = 77) groups. At baseline, median hs-CRP concentration was 0.25 (0.12/0.53) mg/dl, NT-proBNP 551 (235/1455) pg/ml and average 6MWT distance 334 ± 105 m. NT-proBNP changes were significantly different between the four hs-CRP groups (P = 0.011). NT-proBNP increased in the low–high group by 30 (− 14/88) pg/ml and decreased in the high–low group by − 8 (− 42/32) pg/ml. 6MWT changes significantly differed between groups [P = 0.002; decrease in the low–high group (− 18 ± 90 m) and improvement in the low–low group (24 ± 62 m)]. Conclusion: After beta-blocker treatment, hs-CRP levels are associated with functional capacity in HF patients. Whether this represents a potential target for intervention needs further study. © 2018, Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.6-min-walk-testHs-CRPInflammationNT-proBNP