Table 1. Baseline clinical and biochemical characteristics of patients and controls.
| SA | NSTE-ACS | Controls | P-value | ||
| N = 30 | N = 20 | N = 37 | |||
| Age (years) | 64±9 | 67±10 | 64±8 | NS | |
| Female | 4 (13) | 5 (25) | 9 (24) | NS | |
| Waist circumference (cm) | 102±11 | 99±13 | 95±9 | 0.003ψ | |
| Current or previous smoker | 22 (73) | 15 (75) | 1 (3) | <0.001ψγ | |
| Hypertension | 21 (70) | 7 (35) | 0 | <0.001ψγ, 0.015Φ | |
| Diabetes mellitus | 4 (13) | 1 (5) | 0 | 0.022ψ | |
| History of MI | 6 (20) | 2 (10) | 0 | 0.004ψ | |
| Statin treatment | 24 (80) | 6 (30) | 0 | <0.001ψγΦ | |
| Plasma cholesterol (mmol/L) | 5.1±1.0 | 5.4±1.3 | 5.5±1.1 | NS | |
| Plasma LDL-cholesterol (mmol/L) | 2.9±0.8 | 3.2±1.2 | 3.4±0.9 | 0.013ψ | |
| Plasma HDL-cholesterol (mmol/L) | 1.2±0.2 | 1.3±0.4 | 1.4±0.4 | 0.010ψ | |
| Triglycerides (mmol/L) | 1.4 (1.1,2.1) | 1.4 (1.2,1.7) | 1.1 (0.9,1.6) | 0.018ψ, 0.038γ | |
The data are presented as mean ±SD, median (25th, 75th percentile), or numbers (%). SA = stable angina; ACS = acute coronary syndrome; MI = myocardial infarction; LDL = low density lipoprotein, HDL = high density lipoprotein. NS = non-significant (p≥0.05). For comparisons between groups, p-values indicating significant differences are denoted by ψ (controls vs SA), γ (controls vs NSTE-ACS) and Φ (SA vs NSTE-ACS), respectively.