Objective: The presence of personality traits of aggression and hostility, in generally healthy human subjects, has been shown to be associated with elevations of C-reactive protein (pCRP), which, in turn, has also been shown to be associated with an increased risk of cardiac disease. In this pilot study, the author tests the hypothesis that pCRP elevations are associated with the traits of aggression and hostility in personality disordered subjects, a group at high risk for the presence of aggression and hostility.
Method: Participants were 99 medically healthy subjects meeting DSM-IV criteria for personality disorder for which both pCRP levels and Buss-Durkee Hostility Inventory (BDHI) Aggression and Hostility data were available.
Results: Subjects with pCRP levels > or = 1.0 mg/L or higher were found to have significantly higher BDHI Aggression and BDHI Hostility scores than subjects with pCRP levels < 1.0 mg/L. Addition of a number of control variables reduced, but did not generally eliminate, differences in the BDHI scores. In contrast, measures of general dimensions of personality did not differ as a function of pCRP Status.
Conclusions: The association of elevations in pCRP level in medically healthy personality disordered subjects with higher scores of trait aggression and hostility suggests the presence of chronic inflammation in highly aggressive/hostile personality disordered subjects similar to that observed in otherwise healthy individuals at risk for coronary artery disease. Further studies are warranted to determine the clinical correlates of this finding.