Plasma fibrinogen levels were independently positively linearly associated with age (β = 0.07, P = 0.01), diabetes (β = 0.08, P = 0.005), BMI (β = 0.07, P = 0.009), blood platelet count (β = 0.24, P <  0.001), LDL-C (β = 0.10, P <  0.001), and hs-CRP (β = 0.19, P <  0.001), while negatively linearly associated with serum potassium (β = − 0.08, P = 0.001), serum albumin (β = − 0.12, P <  0.001), and HDL-C (β = − 0.07, P = 0.004). Here, CRP is linked to diabetes mellitus.