APLN and fibrosis: As previously reported, unlike apelin, levels of BMP9 and pBMP10 are not significantly reduced in patients with fibrosis compared to healthy controls (BMP9, 218.1 ± 9.5 vs 315.6 ± 24.7 pg/ml, p>0.05; pBMP10, 3479.6 ± 298.3 vs 2909.2 ± 458.2 pg/ml, p > 0.05).