Independent of known cardiovascular risk factors, platelet count was found to be significantly positively correlated with circulating CD34-positive cell count (standardized parameter estimate (β) = 0.26, p < 0.001) (Fig. 1a) but not with CIMT (β =  − 0.05, p = 0.356) (Fig. 1b) in men without hypertension. The gene discussed is CD34; the disease is Hypertension.