Baseline differences in MME, microRNA-425, and microRNA-155 expression levels in whole blood by race. The MME (Panel A) expression levels was normalized to the housekeeping control gene 18s, while miR-425 (Panel B) and miR-155 (Panel C) expression levels were normalized to the single nucleotide U6. The MME, miR-425, and miR-155 expression levels in blacks (n=20) were relative to white (n=29) individuals. Data are presented as mean ± SEM. Data are presented as mean ± SEM. 2-sample t-test with Welch correction for unequal variance was used to assess the p-value by race.