To investigate if EndMT is also associated with aortic stiffening in patients with T2D, we also studied aortic tissue from patients with T2D and control subjects, and we found that SNAIL, SLUG and TWIST are significantly upregulated in T2D patients (SNAIL 2.6-fold, p < 0.01; SLUG 2.5-fold, p < 0.05; TWIST 3.4-fold, p < 0.001, Fig. 1F). Here, SNAI1 is linked to type 2 diabetes mellitus.