Compared with subjects without endoscopically evident esophagitis, the subjects with erosive esophagitis were male predominant, had higher systolic blood pressure, higher fasting blood glucose, higher HbA1C levels, higher insulin resistance, lower level of high-density lipoprotein, higher body mass index (BMI), larger waist circumference, more visceral adipose tissue volume and less Helicobacter pylori infection (Table 1). The gene discussed is INS; the disease is esophagitis.