Fig. 3.

Plasma expression levels of miRNA 33a and ABCA1 in normal, athero-risk, and treated groups. The plasma expression levels of miR-33a are shown in their 2^−∆∆Ct values of the 18 subjects in normal, athero-risk and treated groups (a–c). The normalized plasma level of miR-33a of athero-risk group was 5.01-fold higher than that of normal group (p < 0.01) (d). Plasma levels of ABCA1 of 18 subjects of normal, athero-risk and treated groups are shown (e–g) along with their normalized ratios (h). Compared to the normal group, the expression levels of ABCA1 of athero-risk and treated groups decreased 0.7-fold (p < 0.05) and 0.55-fold (p < 0.01), respectively