Table 1 Population characteristics.

Age, years

62 [53–68]

67 [65–74] *

68 [61–72]*

69 [65–73]*

< 0.000001

Male sex, n (%)

60 (46.2)

32 (53.3)

70 (59.3)

62 (62.0)

0.07

BMI, kg/m²

30 [26–32]

32 [28–25]

32 [27–36]*

31 [28–35]

< 0.009

Smoking, n (%)

30 (25.2)

12 (20.0)

25 (21.4)

12 (12.0)

0.10

Clinical evaluation

Obesity

58 (44.6)

40 (66.7) *

67 (56.8)

53 (53.0)

0.03

Arterial hypertension

99 (76.2)

50 (83.3)

117 (99.1)

100 (100)

< 0.0001

Dyslipidaemia^a

99 (76.1)

49 (83.1) *

100 (84.7) *

71 (71.0) ***

< 0.000001

Impaired glucose tolerance

14 (11.9)

11 (18.3)

20 (16.9)

21 (21.0)

Diabetes mellitus

25 (21.2)

17 (28.3)

43 (36.4) *

49 (49.0) ***

< 0.00002

Stroke/TIA

1 (2.1)

8 (18.6)

20 (16.9)

16 (16.0)

0.06

CAD

34 (26.2)

48 (80.0)

50 (83.3)

100 (100.0)

< 0.0001

PCI

12 (9.2)

22 (36.7) *

19 (16.1) * *

27 (27.0) *

< 0.00002

CABG

2 (4.4)

3 (6.4)

8 (10.3)

5 (5.0)

0.49

Previous MI

10 (10.4)

26 (46.4) *

48 (61.5) *

77 (77.0) ***

< 0.000001

HFpEF

0

0

69 (58.5)

18 (18.0)

< 0.000001

HFmrEF

0

0

21 (17.8)

29 (29.0)

HFrEF

0

0

28 (23.7)

53 (53.0)

Blood tests

Haemoglobin, g/L

141.0

[132.0–153.0]

144.0

[133.0–154.0]

138

[129–148.0]

132

[119.75–144.0] *,**

0.000006

WBC, *10⁹

6.2

[5.4–7.53]

7.2

[5.97–8.81] *

7.8

[6.4–9.17]*

8.0

[6.8–9.65]*^,**

< 0.00001

K⁺, mMol/L

4.6

[4.38–4.90]

4.5

[4.30–4.90]

4.5

[4.30–4.97]

4.4

[4.0–4.7]*,***

0.00058

Total cholesterol, mmol/L

5.27 ± 1.28

4.57 ± 1.36*

4.35 ± 1.37*

3.64 ± 1.08*,** ***

< 0.000001

LDL, mg/dL

3.25

[2.44–3.75]

2.48

[1.88–3.27]*

2.94

[1.9–3.59]

2.13

[1.52–2.93]*,***

< 0.0001

HDL, mg/dL

1.42

[1.18–1.67]

1.17

[1.01–1.55]

1.04

[0.86–1.30]*

0.95

[0.72–1.23]*

< 0.000001

Triglycerides, mg/dL

1.3

[1.02–1.91]

1.23

[1.00–1.83]

1.36

[0.98–1.95]*

1.09

[0.82–1.40]*

< 0.0053

Creatinine, mkmol/L

91.95

[81.42–101.6]

97.10

[84.48–110.72]

99.5

[88.25–114.00]

111.0

[93.75–127.25] *^,**,***

< 0.000001

eGFR, mL/min/1.73 m²

69.37 ± 15.09

62.42 ± 19.28*

60.76 ± 15.71

54.02 ± 15.82 *,**,***

< 0.000001

Fasting blood glucose, mmol/L

5.6 [5.2–6.3]

5.8 [5.1–6.52]*

6.0 [5.3–7.2]

6.0 [5.0–8.2]

0.165

Uric acid, mkmol/L

328.5 [274.8–385.2]

353.8 [311.2–406.9]

410.0 [311.2–482.0]*

456.0 [361.0–529.0]*^,**,***

< 0.000001

CRP, mg/L

1.57 [0.66–4.00]

1.6 [0.70–3.00]

4.00 [1.50–7.10]*

9.13 [4.49–22.54]*^,**, ***

< 0.000001

Ferrum, mkmol/L

17.55 [15.30–22.50]

14.10 [11.70–22.20]

14.00 [9.7–20.95]*

6.50 [4.00–14.70]*,**,***

0.000014

NT-proBNP, pg/mL

51 [48–56]

101 [46–143]

1300 [376–3953]*,**

3733 [1341–7250]*^,**,***

< 0.000001

Therapy

Beta-blocker

63 (52.5)

44 (73.3)*

101 (85.6)*

87 (87.0)*

< 0.000001

ACEi

67 (56.3)

34 (56.7)

50 (42.4)

30 (30.0)

0.00036

ARB

31 (25.8)

14 (23.3)

37 (31.4)

18 (18.0)

0.153

ARNI

0 (0.0)

0 (0.0)

27 (34.6)

49 (49.0)

< 0.0001

MRA

5 (5.0)

15 (25.0)

77 (65.3)

83 (83.0)

< 0.0001

SGLT2i

1 (2.1)

7 (16.3)

18 (15.3)

19 (19.0)

0.051

Digoxin

0

0

16 (13.6)

31 (31.0)

0.01

CCB

32 (26.7)

20 (33.3)

38 (32.2)

12 (12.0)

*,**,***

0.0025

Oral anticoagulant

24 (20.0)

26 (43.3)*

75 (63.6)*

78 (78.0)

*,**,***

< 0.0001

Statins

55 (45.8)

17 (28.3)

45 (38.1)

52 (52.0)**

0.0178

Furosemide

0

0

78 (66.1)

85 (85.0)

< 0.0001

Amiodaron

11 (9.2)

8 (13.3)

14 (11.9)

2 (2.0)**,***

0.033