Fig. 4

Relative mRNA (a) and protein (b) expression of adipokines in the SAT and EAT samples. PCR was performed in 55 patients, for Western blots 4 patients in each study group were selected randomly (12 in total). Cyclophillin A was used as a housekeeping gene in PCR, GAPDH was a loading control in Western blots. Quantifications in PCR were made with a Pfaffl method. The Mann–Whitney U test was used to determine differences between fat depots. Each comparison of mRNA expression was statistically significant with p < 0.001; **indicates p < 0.001 in protein expression. EAT epicardial adipose tissue, SAT subcutaneous adipose tissue, APN adiponectin, IL-6 interleukin 6, TNF-α tumor necrosis factor α, GAPDH glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase