Figure 4.

Associations between TGF-β1 levels and laboratory biomarkers as well as the glycoprotein TIMP-1 and matrixin MMP-9 in individuals with HbSC. Individuals with TGF-β1 levels above the median (TGF‐β1 ≥ 47.80) exhibited increased (a) leukocytes, (b) eosinophils, (c) lymphocytes, (d) monocytes, and (e) platelets, as well as higher levels of (f) ferritin, (g) TIMP-1, and (h) MMP-9. All p values were obtained by the Mann–Whitney U test, except for leukocytes, monocytes, ferritin, and TIMP-1, for which the independent t-test was used.