Baseline characteristics of study population
| Patients | Control subjects | P | |
|---|---|---|---|
| n | 86 | 63 | — |
| Age (years) | 68 ± 6 | 66 ± 10 | 0.115* |
| Male | 67 | 53 | 0.079† |
| Cardiovascular disease | 46 | — | — |
| Current smokers | 16 | 12 | 0.575† |
| Drug therapy | |||
| ACE inhibitor | 100 | — | — |
| Aspirin | 42 | — | — |
| Statin | 24 | — | — |
| Sulphonylurea | 100 | — | — |
| Metformin | 43 | — | — |
| Glitazone | 3 | — | — |
| BMI (kg/m2) | 28 ± 4 | 27 ± 4 | 0.575* |
| Systolic blood pressure (mmHg) | 139 ± 19 | 131 ± 13 | 0.006* |
| Diastolic blood pressure (mmHg) | 77 ± 10 | 76 ± 10 | 0.578* |
| Cholesterol (mmol/l) | 5.0 ± 1.1 | 5.3 ± 1.1 | 0.065* |
| HDL (mmol/l) | 1.3 ± 0.3 | 1.6 ± 0.4 | <0.0001* |
| Triglycerides (mmol/l) | 1.6 (1.2–2.6) | 1.5 (0.8–2.2) | 0.146‡ |
| HbA1c (%) | 7.4 (6.6–8.2) | 5.4 (5.2–5.6) | <0.0001‡ |
| TIMP-2 (ng/ml) | 143 (120–160) | 110 (93–143) | <0.0001‡ |
| MMP-9 (ng/ml) | 65 (48–81) | 56 (45–75) | 0.028‡ |
| TIMP-1 (ng/ml) | 397 (300–496) | 280 (225–305) | <0.0001‡ |