PCSK9 and diabetes mellitus: First, we studied the same 4 variants that were previously associated with altered survival in patients with septic shock.4 Second, we used a PCSK9 GRS (derived from the effect of variants on LDL-C levels) that previously detected associations between PCSK9 and risk of cardiovascular events and diabetes.30 Third, we estimated genetic PCSK9 expression levels using GTEx information.