Table 1.
Comparison of biochemical and demographic parameters between hypertensive patients and control subjects
| Hypertensives (n = 55) | Controls (n = 55) | p Value | |
| Fasting serum insulin (μIU/ml) | 9.67 (6.50) | 7.13 (2.66) | 0.011 |
| Fasting serum glucose (mg/l) | 91.9 (11.7) | 87.5 (10.1) | 0.064 |
| Insulin resistance (%) | 2.27 (1.81) | 1.56 (0.70) | 0.011 |
| Body mass index (kg/m2) | 24.9 (3.0) | 24.0 (2.2) | 0.073 |
| Serum total cholesterol (mg/dl) | 207.3 (31.0) | 195.4 (41.1) | 0.077 |
| Serum HDL cholesterol (mg/dl) | 48.8 (11.5) | 48.8 (11.7) | 0.983 |
| Serum triglycerides (mg/dl) | 110.6 (55.3) | 107.4 (51.1) | 0.619 |
| AST (IU/l) | 19.9 (4.9) | 18.9 (4.2) | 0.232 |
| ALT (IU/l) | 22.0 (8.2) | 20.4 (7.5) | 0.222 |
| γGT (IU/l) | 23.6 (13.6) | 25.5 (19.3) | 0.545 |
| Age (years) | 52.7 (10.0) | 52.5 (10.0) | 0.219 |
Data are mean (SD); p values refer to t test for paired data.
HDL, high density lipoprotein; AST, aspartate transaminase; ALT, alanine transaminase; γGT, gamma glutamyl transpeptidase. Insulin resistance was estimated as the homeostasis model assessment index (see methods).
Upper reference limits are 37 IU/l for AST, 40 IU/l for ALT, and 50 IU/l for γGT, in our laboratory.