Blood sampling and laboratory methods
At all baseline and follow-up visits, peripheral venous blood was collected in 3.2% sodium citrate tubes to assess lipid profile, hs-CRP, and platelet aggregation. Total cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), triglyceride levels, and CRP were measured using standard clinical lipid profile and CRP test by the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center Clinical Laboratories. For the measurement of hs-CRP, blood was collected in K2 EDTA tubes. Whole blood was centrifuged at 1000 g for 15 min at 4°C to separate plasma. Plasma was aliquoted and stored at −80°C. hs-CRP was measured using ELISA (GenWay Biotech, Inc., San Diego, CA, USA) as per the manufacturer's instructions.