Table I.

Clinical data, hemodynamic alterations, serum IL-6, TNF-α, CRP, NO and NOS in Hakka and non-Hakka patients with CIH combined with hypertension, compared with healthy volunteers (mean ± standard deviation).

Variable	Non-Hakka patients (n=132)	Hakka patients (n=106)	Healthy volunteers (n=156)	OR	P-value	r
Age, years	47.93±2.75a	48.52±2.90a	46.02±3.24	1.73	<0.001	0.536
Sex, n (%)
Male	86 (65.15a)	68, 64.15a	89 (57.05)	2.07	<0.001	0.681
Female	46 (34.85a)	38, 35.85a	67 (42.95)	0.85	<0.001	−0.326
BMI, kg/cm2	34.96±5.81a	37.65±4.82a,b	26.04±3.97	3.48	<0.001	0.710
Smoking history, n (%)	32 (24.24a)	26, 24.53a	25 (15.72)	1.64	0.019	0.611
T2DM history, n (%)	22 (16.67a)	15, 14.15a	8 (5.13)	4.83	<0.001	0.692
SAP, mmHg	136.58±14.18a	130.17±12.93a,b	106.24±10.37	2.14	<0.001	0.542
DAP, mmHg	85.44±8.92a	83.20±9.25a	73.03±8.50	1.83	<0.001	0.602
MAP, mmHg	106.25±11.77a	104.92±12.35a	83.96±10.45	1.95	<0.001	0.575
HR, bpm	72.59±9.40a	73.08±8.86a	63.15±4.82	1.79	0.016	0.326
IL-6, µg/ml	24.13±4.22a	20.65±3.82a,b	14.85±3.60	2.37	<0.001	0.787
TNF-α, pg/ml	24.51±4.26a	19.79±5.04a,b	8.67±1.33	2.54	<0.001	0.619
CRP, µg/ml	3.94±0.85a	3.70±0.73a	1.56±0.38	1.60	<0.001	0.328
NO, µM	57.64±20.86a	62.90±15.37a,b	78.94±16.55	0.72	<0.001	−0.206
NOS, U/ml	37.28±6.50a	38.83±7.45a	40.36±5.42	0.88	0.030	−0.443

^aP<0.05 vs. healthy volunteers

^bP<0.05 vs. Hakka patients. CIH, chronic intermittent hypoxia; OR, odds ratio; r, correlation coefficient; BMI, body mass index; T2DM, type 2 diabetes mellitus; SAP, systolic arterial pressure; DAP, diastolic arterial pressure; MAP, mean arterial pressure; HR, heart rate; IL-6, interleukin-6; TNF-α, tumor necrosis factor-α; CRP, C-reactive protein; NO, nitric oxide; NOS, nitric oxide synthase.