Fig. 2: Fasting insulin and c-reactive protein by categories of body mass index and biological sex.

BMI body mass index The square markers show the median fasting insulin (left panel) and c-reactive protein (right panel) levels by biological sex (women in pink, men in blue) by body mass index. The vertical bars show the interquartile ranges, and the vertical lines show the range from the 1st percentile to the 99th percentile by body mass index. The gray horizontal lines in the left panel show the 1st, 5th, 50th, 75th, 95th, and 99th percentiles for fasting insulin in this study population. The gray horizontal lines in the right panel show the 1st, 5th, 50th, 75th, 95th, and 99th percentiles for c-reactive protein in this study population. These are data from the primary cohort. The curves of fasting insulin between the sexes start to separate at BMIs between 18.5 and 24.9 kg/m². The p values using gamma regression were 0.96 for <18.5, 0.009 for 18.5–24.9, <0.001 for 25-34.9, <0.001 for 35–44.9, and 0.002 for ≥45 kg/m². The curves of c-reactive protein between the sexes start to separate at BMIs between 18.5 and 25.9 kg/m². The p values using Gaussian regression were 0.64 for <18.5, <0.001 for 18.5–24.9, <0.001 for 25–34.9, <0.001 for 35–44.9, and 0.004 for ≥45 kg/m².