In line with this, in vitro studies of TGF-β release from isolated live human plaque cells showed reduced levels of all three isoforms in T2D cell supernatants compared to ND cell supernatants (β1 47,960 (SD 6920) vs 77,753 (SD 10,823) pg/g total protein, p = 0.004; β2 173,793 (SD 28,771) vs 878,234 (SD 105,780) pg/g total protein, p = 1.4 × 10−5; β3- 219 (SD 27) vs 918 (SD 69) pg/g total protein, p = 0.7 × 10−7 Fig. 2d). This evidence concerns the gene TGFB1 and type 2 diabetes mellitus.