Table 1. Characteristics of the studied subjects.

	Total	Male	Female
n	296	122	174
Age (years)	60.4±0.9	60.8±1.4	60.1±1.1
Body mass index (kg/m2)	22.7±0.2	23.5±0.3	22.1±0.2**
Waist circumference (cm)	82.9±0.6	85.8±0.9	80.8±0.7**
Systolic blood pressure (mmHg)	133.2±1.4	135.1±2.0	131.8±1.9
Diastolic blood pressure (mmHg)	76.5±0.7	78.4±1.2	75.2±0.9*
Biochemical data
Total cholesterol (mg/dl)	203.3±2.0	195.0±3.1	209.0±2.5**
HDL cholesterol (mg/dl)	67.9±1.1	59.5±1.6	73.8±1.3**
LDL cholesterol (mg/dl)	121.9±1.7	117.8±2.8	124.7±2.2*
Triglycerides (mg/dl)	109.0±6.1	115.9±5.7	84.9±2.9**
Glucose (mg/dl)	97.7±3.0	97.9±1.6	92.3±1.0**
HbA1c (%)	5.03±0.03	5.11±0.04	4.97±0.03*
Insulin (μU/ml)	5.8±0.3	6.7±0.5	5.2±0.2**
HOMA-R	1.41±0.08	1.69±0.17	1.22±0.07**
Cr (mg/dl)	0.74±0.01	0.84±0.01	0.66±0.01**
estimated GFR (ml/min/1.73 m2)	73.8±0.8	75.2±1.3	72.8±1.1
AST (IU/l)	23.6±0.5	26.1±0.9	21.8±0.5**
ALT (IU/l)	21.5±0.7	26.3±1.3	18.1±0.7**
BNP (pg/ml)	26.2±1.9	24.1±3.7	27.7±1.9
hsCRP (mg/dl)	0.064±0.005	0.083±0.009	0.052±0.005**

Variables are expressed as n or means ± SEM.

^*P<0.05,

^**P<0.01 vs. male.