C-Reactive Protein (CRP)

About The Test

The C-reactive protein (CRP) test measures the amount of CRP in your blood. A type of protein that is associated with inflammation in the body, CRP is measured using a small blood sample drawn from a vein in your arm.

Your doctor might order a CRP test if you have symptoms of inflammation. Doctors also use CRP levels to guide treatment of a bacterial infection or to monitor inflammatory processes that occur in some autoimmune diseases.

Doctors measure CRP because it is a marker of inflammation, which is part of the body’s fight against illness or injury. Your doctor might order a CRP test to:

• Check for infection if you have symptoms of inflammation such as fever, chills, redness or flushing, nausea, vomiting, rapid breathing, and/or rapid heart rate.
• Guide treatment of sepsis, a life-threatening complication where the body’s response to a bacterial infection triggers inflammation throughout the body.
• Monitor flare-ups of a chronic inflammatory autoimmune disease such as lupus or rheumatoid arthritis.
• Assess the treatment of a chronic inflammatory condition.