2.4. Demographic and Clinical Assessments
fasting blood glucose, non-fasting blood glucose, Dyslipidemia, diabetes
DYSLIPIDEMIA, DIABETES
Trained nurses collected blood samples (fasting state) from each patient for laboratory testing to measure serum levels of LDL cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, triglycerides, and RLP-C. The LDL cholesterol level was measured by an enzymatically direct measure method using the kit from DENKA SEIKEN, Inc. (Tokyo, Japan). The RLP-C levels were measured enzymatically using a RemL-C kit from MINARIS Medical, Inc. (Tokyo, Japan). The RemL-C assay utilizes surfactant POE-POB block copolymer and phospholipase D, which can selectively solubilize and degrade TG-rich remnant lipoproteins, VLDL remnants, and chylomicron remnants. Then, the released cholesterol was measured enzymatically. POE-POB selectively binds to very-low-density lipoprotein remnants and intermediate-density lipoprotein particles, and the phospholipase D addition supports the reactivity towards chylomicron remnants. This RemL-C assay was performed with an autoanalyzer (Hitachi 7600 automated analyzer, Tokyo, Japan). Dyslipidemia was defined as serum LDL cholesterol, HDL cholesterol, and triglyceride concentrations of ≥140 mg/dL, <40 mg/dL, and ≥150 mg/dL, respectively, or treatment with lipid-lowering drugs, such as a statin. A history of diabetes was defined as a history of physician-diagnosed diabetes, the use of medication for diabetes, a fasting blood glucose level of ≥126 mg/dL, or a non-fasting blood glucose level of ≥200 mg/dL, as previously described [Each participant’s ABI was measured using the Vascular Screening System VaSera VS-2000 (Fukuda Denshi, Tokyo, Japan). Firstly, each patient was asked to rest for 10 min. Following this, their systolic blood pressure was measured at each arm and leg while they were placed in the supine position with straight arms and legs. The ABI value was calculated as the ratio of the ankle systolic blood pressure divided by the brachial systolic blood pressure, and the lowest value from the right or left side was recorded and used in the analyses.