Apolipoprotein E mRNA expression in mononuclear cells from normolipidemic and hypercholesterolemic individuals treated with atorvastatin

Table 1 Demographic and laboratory characteristics of study groups

Parameter	Hypercholesterolemic (n = 181)	Normolipidemic (n = 181)	p-value
Age, years	56.1 ± 10.8	46.9 ± 6.8	< 0.001
Ethnics [European/African], %	62/38	65/35	0.581
Gender, % of women	67	73	0.205
Menopause, %	52	19	< 0.001
Family history of CAD, %	55	45	0.062
Hypertension, %	57	36	< 0.001
Obesity, %	29	15	0.002
Cigarette smoking, %	16	18	0.673
Physical activity, %	49	45	0.553
BMI, kg/m²	27.8 ± 4.1	26.2 ± 4.2	< 0.001
Total cholesterol, mg/dL	270 ± 41	173 ± 18	< 0.001
LDL cholesterol, mg/dL	183 ± 36	98 ± 18	< 0.001
HDL cholesterol, mg/dL	57 ± 14	58 ± 12	0.386
Triglycerides, mg/dL	150 ± 65	82 ± 28	< 0.001
VLDL cholesterol, mg/dL	30 ± 13	16 ± 6	< 0.001
ApoAI, mg/dL	136 ± 26	141 ± 26	0.101
ApoB, mg/dL	143 ± 27	85 ± 23	< 0.001

Non-continuous variables are compared by chi-square test. Continuous variables are presented as media ± SD and compared by t test. CAD, coronary artery disease; LDL, low density lipoprotein; HDL, high density lipoprotein; VLDL, very low density lipoprotein; ApoAI, apolipoprotein AI; ApoB, apolipoprotein B. Conversion factors to convert to Systeme Internacional (SI) units are 0.02586 for cholesterol (mmol/l), 0.01129 for triglycerides (mmol/l) and 0.01 for apolipoproteins (g/l).

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