After a 12-h overnight fast, blood samples were collected using EDTA-coated tubes. Frozen blood samples were shipped to the Emory Lipid Research Laboratory (Atlanta, GA, USA) for lipid analysis. Total lipids were measured by enzymatic methods using reagents from Beckman Diagnostics (Palo Alto, CA, USA) on a CX5 chemistry analyzer. HDL-C was determined using the homogenous assay direct HDL-C (Genzyme Corporation, Exton, PA, USA). CRP concentrations were determined using a high-sensitivity immunoturbidimetric method (Synchron LX20, Beckman Coulter, Inc., Brea, CA, USA, lower detection limit: 0.95 nmol l−1).
The cutpoints used to define elevated risk for each trait were: >28.57 nmol l−1 (3.0 mg l−1) for CRP, <1.29 mmol l−1 (50 mg dl−1) for HDL-C and >1.69 mmol l−1 (150 mg dl−1) for TG levels. These were based on recommendations from the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) and the American Heart Association.30 (link), 31 (link), 32 (link), 33 (link)
The cutpoints used to define elevated risk for each trait were: >28.57 nmol l−1 (3.0 mg l−1) for CRP, <1.29 mmol l−1 (50 mg dl−1) for HDL-C and >1.69 mmol l−1 (150 mg dl−1) for TG levels. These were based on recommendations from the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) and the American Heart Association.30 (link), 31 (link), 32 (link), 33 (link)