PAI‐1, leptin, ferritin and insulin levels were measured using the Metabolic Syndrome Array I (Randox Laboratories Ltd., London, UK), while adiponectin and resistin levels were measured using Metabolic Syndrome Array II (Randox Laboratories Ltd., London, UK), interleukins (IL‐1α, IL‐1β, IFNγ, IL‐2, IL‐4, IL‐6, IL‐8, IL‐10), MCP‐1, TNF‐α as well as VEGF was measured using Cytokine Array I (Randox Laboratories Ltd., London, UK). This evidence concerns the gene CXCL8 and metabolic syndrome.