Table 1. The demographic and clinical characteristics of normocholesterolemic and hypercholesterolemic subjects.

Variable	Normal cholesterol n = 45	High cholesterol n = 55	p-Value
Age (mean ± SEM), y	66 ± 7	64.5 ± 5	NS
Gender	Male: 64%	Male: 64%	NS
	Female: 36%	Female: 36%	NS
Smoking status	Smokers: 20%	Smokers: 20%	NS
	Nonsmokers: 80%	Nonsmokers: 80%	NS
HTN	24%	25%	NS
BMI (mean ± SEM), kg/m2	25 ±  1.5	28 ±  0.7	NS

Abbreviations: BMI: body mass index; HTN, hypertension; NS, not significant; SEM, standard error of the mean.