Table 1.
Characteristics of Participants by Tertiles of the dp‐ucMGP Distribution
| Characteristics | Category of dp‐ucMGP | P Value | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Limits, μg/L | <3.35 | 3.35–5.31 | ≥5.31 | … |
| Participants, n (%) | 279 (33.4) | 278 (33.3) | 278 (33.3) | … |
| All patients in category, n (%) | ||||
| Women | 131 (47.0) | 129 (46.4) | 121 (43.5) | 0.68 |
| Smokers | 58 (20.8) | 53 (19.1) | 21 (7.6)† | <0.001 |
| Drinking alcohol | 122 (43.7) | 127 (45.7) | 104 (37.4)* | 0.12 |
| Hypertension | 81 (29.0) | 94 (33.8) | 166 (59.7)† | <0.001 |
| Antihypertensive treatment | 30 (10.8) | 52 (18.7)† | 92 (33.1)† | <0.001 |
| Diuretics | 9 (3.2) | 13 (4.7) | 33 (11.9)† | <0.001 |
| β Blockers | 20 (7.2) | 30 (10.8) | 44 (15.8) | 0.005 |
| ACEIs or ARBs | 12 (4.3) | 15 (5.4) | 38 (13.7)† | <0.001 |
| CCBs or α‐blockers | 7 (2.5) | 10 (3.6) | 24 (8.6)* | 0.002 |
| Diabetes mellitus | 2 (0.72) | 2 (0.72) | 7 (2.5) | 0.099 |
| History of cardiovascular disease | 8 (2.9) | 11 (4.0) | 20 (7.2) | 0.042 |
| Factor, mean±SD | ||||
| Age, y | 43.4±13.7 | 48.2±14.7† | 57.6±13.6† | <0.001 |
| Body mass index, kg/m2 | 24.7±3.5 | 25.8±3.9† | 28.1±4.3† | <0.001 |
| Brachial SBP, mm Hg | 123.8±14.2 | 127.7±16.2† | 134.3±16.6† | <0.001 |
| Brachial DBP, mm Hg | 76.8±9.6 | 78.2±8.8 | 80.9±9.2† | <0.001 |
| Ankle/arm SBP ratio | 1.15±0.10 | 1.14±0.11 | 1.15±0.12 | 0.30 |
| Serum total cholesterol, mmol/L | 4.93±0.90 | 5.01±0.86 | 5.18±0.99* | 0.004 |
| Serum HDL cholesterol, mmol/L | 1.46±0.36 | 1.44±0.37 | 1.37±0.32* | 0.007 |
| Plasma glucose, mmol/L | 4.79±0.68 | 4.86±0.81 | 4.95±0.77 | 0.051 |
| Factor, geometric mean (IQR) | ||||
| dp‐ucMGP, μg/L | 2.22 (1.89–2.95) | 4.22 (3.79–4.77)† | 7.17 (5.99–8.08)† | <0.001 |
Brachial blood pressure was the second of 2 measurements in the supine position. Hypertension was a brachial blood pressure of ≥140 mm Hg systolic or ≥90 mm Hg diastolic or use of antihypertensive drugs. Diabetes mellitus was fasting plasma glucose of ≥126 mg/dL (≥7.0 mmol/L) or use of antidiabetic agents. To convert dp‐ucMGP from μg/L into pmol/L, multiply by 94.299. P values denote the significance of the difference in prevalence (χ2 test) or means (ANOVA) across tertiles of the dp‐ucMGP distribution. ACEI indicates angiotensin‐converting enzyme inhibitor; ARB, angiotensin‐receptor blocker; CCB, calcium‐channel blocker; DBP, diastolic blood pressure; dp‐ucMGP, desphospho‐uncarboxylated matrix Gla protein; HDL, high‐density lipoprotein; IQR, interquartile range; SBP, systolic blood pressure.
Significance of the difference with the adjacent lower tertile: *P≤0.05, † P≤0.01.