Table 1 Characteristics of the patient and control populations.
| Patients | Healthy UK subjects | p Value (patients v controls) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Age | 55 (range 24–80) | 56 (range 49–64) | 0.01 |
| Sex (M:F) | 40:60 | All males | <0.0001 |
| Smoking | 50% | 28.2% | <0.0001 |
| Hypertension* | 51% | 30% | <0.0001 |
| Diabetes | 2% | 2.4% | 0.62 |
| IL‐6 genotype (−174G>C) | |||
| GG/GC/CC, n (%) | 40 (47)/40 (47)/6 (7) | 867 (32)/1358 (50)/495 (18) | 0.003 |
| Frequency of C allele (95% CI) | 0.30 (0.23 to 0.37) | 0.43 (0.42 to 0.44) | 0.001 |
| IL‐6 genotype (−572G>C) | |||
| GG/GC/CC, n (%) | 79 (86.8)/8 (8.8)/4 (4.4) | 2359 (90.4)/244 (9.3)/9 (0.3) | 0.001 |
| Frequency of C allele (95% CI) | 0.09 (0.05 to 0.13) | 0.05 (0.04 to 0.06) | 0.02 |
*Systolic hypertension >160 mm Hg or diastolic hypertension <100 mm Hg.