Midlife CRP rises linked to body fat rather than menopause stage
Each kg/m² increase in fat mass index was linked to a 23% rise in serum C-reactive protein, whereas menopause stage showed no independent association.
Research Square
In a multi-ethnic cohort of 1,681 women followed from 1996 to 2018, midlife increases in C-reactive protein (CRP) were linked to gains in body mass and fat mass rather than menopause stage. Using fixed-effects analysis across the menopause transition, researchers found that adjusting for body mass index (BMI) removed any association between menopause stage and serum CRP levels. Every 1 kg/m² within-woman increase in BMI was associated with a 16% rise in CRP, with a smaller association in Black women (12%) than in White women (18%). Every 1 kg/m² increase in fat mass index was associated with a 23% increase in CRP across racial and ethnic groups, though this association was modestly smaller in postmenopausal women than in premenopausal women.
Why it matters
Chronic low-grade inflammation often rises during midlife, and these findings suggest that expanding adiposity, rather than reproductive aging itself, may drive systemic inflammatory markers in aging women.
Caveats
As an observational study, this design cannot determine whether changes in fat mass cause rises in CRP. The findings also come from a preprint that has not yet undergone peer review.
The paper
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Samar El Khoudary, Sherri-Ann Burnett-Bowie, Carrie Karvonen-Gutierrez, Sybil Crawford,University of California, Los Angeles
Research Square · 29 Sep 2026 · Preprint, not peer-reviewed