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. 2020 Jun 25;12(6):1894. doi: 10.3390/nu12061894

Figure 3.

Figure 3

Biomarkers of TE status in relation to normalized NT-proBNP level. A comparison of the biomarkers of TE status to an established biomarker of SSc-PAH reveals significant interactions for most of the TE parameters analysed. Among the biomarkers of Se status, (A) serum Se (n = 63, r = −0.351, p = 0.005) and, (B) SELENOP concentrations (n = 63, r = −0.344, p = 0.006), as well as (C) serum GPx3 activities (n = 63, r = −0.318, p = 0.011) show a significant and consistent negative correlation with N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide (NTproBNP). No significant interaction was detected for (D) total serum Zn (p = 0.125), (E) total serum Cu (p = 0.083), or (F) serum CP concentrations (p = 0.634). Some composite biomarkers of TE status were positively related with NTproBNP, as seen in an analysis of the (G) Cu/Zn ratio (r = 0.316, p = 0.014), (H) Cu/Se ratio (r = 0.423, p = 0.0005), and (I) CP/SELENOP ratio (r = −0.293, p = 0.020). Correlations between parameters (n = 63) were tested by Pearson’s correlation analysis, and for not-normally distributed variables by Spearman’s correlation test. p-values <0.05 were considered statistically significant; * indicates p < 0.05, ** indicates p < 0.01, and *** indicates p < 0.001.