The plaque group had higher serum levels of sclerostin (p = 0.013) (Fig. 2), were older (p < 0.001), and had a higher pulse pressure (p = 0.036), and higher prevalence of hypertension (p = 0.007) and DM (p < 0.001) compared to the non-plaque group. The gene discussed is SOST; the disease is hypertensive disorder.