Fig. 1.

The expression levels of ER stress markers such as PERK, IRE1, ATF6, ER chaperone protein GRP78, and pro-apoptotic protein CHOP in PBMCs of study subjects were measured using qRT-PCR. A total of twenty-seven samples were analyzed for gene expression studies. Data are expressed as fold change over control and presented as mean ± SD of three independent experiments. Statistical analysis was performed by the Kruskal-Wallis test. *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, and ***p < 0.001