ALB and Hypertension: BCAT1 expression was also significantly upregulated with clinical factors such as higher glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c), alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) values (S1 Table) but not BMI, total cholesterol, total bilirubin, albumin, creatinine or a diagnosis of hypertension (results not shown).