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. 2019 Nov 1;8(11):1813. doi: 10.3390/jcm8111813

Table 3.

Baseline characteristics of the 4336 subjects of the Prevention of Renal and Vascular End-Stage Disease (PREVEND) study of the overall population and according to tertiles of betaine.

Overall Tertiles of betaine p-Value
T1 T2 T3
Participants, n 4336 1445 1446 1445
Betaine, µM 36.9 (31.0–44.0) 28.7 (25.3–31.0) 36.9 (35.1–38.8) 47.3 (44.0–52.6)
Participants, n 4236 1398 1418 1420
TMAO, µM 4.6 ± 5.9 4.6 ± 5.1 4.7 ± 6.3 4.6 ± 6.4
General characteristics
Age, years 52.6 ± 11.5 51.3 ± 10.9 52.8 ± 11.4 53.7 ± 12.1 <0.001
Male sex, n (%) 2159 (49.8) 456 (31.6) 750 (51.9) 953 (66.0) <0.001
Ethnicity, Caucasian, n (%) 4164 (96.0) 1403 (97.1) 1400 (96.8) 1361 (94.2) 0.001
BMI, kg/m2 26.4 ± 4.2 26.7 ± 4.3 26.6 ± 4.2 26.0 ± 4.1 <0.001
Smoking status, n (%) 0.008
Never 1286 (29.7) 420 (29.1) 424 (29.3) 442 (30.6)
Former 1828 (42.2) 574 (39.7) 639 (44.2) 615 (42.6)
Current 1165 (26.9) 438 (30.3) 358 (24.8) 369 (25.5)
Alcohol consumption, never, n (%) 1004 (23.2) 329 (22.8) 351 (24.3) 324 (22.4) 0.26
eGFR, mL/min/1.73m2 93.5 ± 16.3 94.5 ± 15.9 93.1 ± 16.7 93.0 ± 16.3 0.02
Hypertension, n (%) 1280 (29.5) 406 (28.1) 443 (30.6) 431 (29.8) 0.33
Hypercholesterolemia, n (%) 1235 (28.5) 468 (32.4) 390 (27.0) 377 (26.1) <0.001
Parental history of CKD, n (%) 20 (0.5) 8 (0.6) 7 (0.5) 5 (0.3) 0.70
Circulation
SBP, mmHg 124.8 ± 18.1 123.9 ± 17.8 125.4 ± 18.2 125.1 ± 18.3 0.06
DBP, mmHg 73.0 ± 9.0 72.5 ± 9.1 73.4 ± 8.8 72.3 ± 9.0 0.02
Laboratory parameters
Total cholesterol, mmol/L 5.4 ± 1.0 5.6 ± 1.1 5.4 ± 1.0 5.2 ± 1.0 <0.001
HDL cholesterol, mmol/L 1.3 ± 0.3 1.2 ± 0.3 1.3 ± 0.3 1.2 ± 0.3 <0.001
Triglycerides, mmol/L 1.1 (0.8–1.6) 1.2 (0.8–1.7) 1.1 (0.8–1.6) 1.0 (0.8–1.5) 0.005
Fasting glucose, mmol/L 4.7 (4.4–5.2) 4.7 (4.4–5.2) 4.7 (4.4–5.2) 4.7 (4.4–5.2) 0.34
C-reactive protein, mg/L 1.2 (0.6–2.8) 1.4 (0.6–3.0) 1.2 (0.5–2.6) 1.1 (0.5–2.8) 0.005
Medication
Antihypertensive drugs, n (%) 716 (16.5) 221 (15.3) 239 (16.5) 256 (17.7) 0.12
Lipid lowering drug use, n (%) 304 (7.0) 62 (4.3) 94 (6.5) 148 (10.2) <0.001

Data are represented as mean ± SD, median (interquartile range) or n (%). Differences were tested by ANOVA or Kruskal Wallis for continuous variables and with χ2- test for categorical variables. The eGFR is based on the creatinine–cystatin C equation. Abbreviations: BMI, body mass index; eGFR, estimated glomerular filtration rate; CKD, chronic kidney disease; SBP, systolic blood pressure; DBP, diastolic blood pressure; HDL, high-density lipoproteins.