IPA analysis shows that from this module 16 genes are regulated by TGFB1 (Additional file 11), and 17 genes are related to heart or vascular disease, including the male-biased genes PTGS1 (coding for COX-1, which is inhibited by aspirin [64] that has a protective effect on cardiac events [65]), ITGA2B, ITGB3, F13A and GP1BA which are candidate stroke risk genes [66]. Here, ITGA2B is linked to stroke disorder.