Table 2 Baseline characteristic of the participants in the study with available fecal samples

N (men/women)

679 (567/112)

329 (242/87)

567

242

n.a

112

87

n.a

Age (years)

59.7 ± 0.4

59.3 ± 0.5

59.1 ± 0.4

59.2 ± 0.6

0.889

62.8 ± 0.8

59.6 ± 0.9

0.011

BMI (kg/m²)

31.1 ± 0.2

29.4 ± 0.3

31.1 ± 0.2

29.5 ± 0.3

 < 0.001

31.2 ± 0.5

29.0 ± 0.6

0.006

Waist circumference (cm)

104.9 ± 0.4

99.8 ± 0.7

106.1 ± 0.5

101.9 ± 0.7

 < 0.001

99.0 ± 1.2

93.6 ± 1.7

0.007

HDL-cholesterol (mg/dL)

42.3 ± 0.4

46.6 ± 0.6

41.2 ± 0.4

43.7 ± 0.6

0.001

47.5 ± 1.2

54.7 ± 1.3

 < 0.001

LDL-cholesterol (mg/dL)

88.7 ± 1.0

132.3 ± 1.6

88.2 ± 1.1

132.8 ± 2.0

 < 0.001

91.7 ± 2.8

130.9 ± 2.9

 < 0.001

Triglycerides (mg/dL)

136.4 ± 2.7

115.5 ± 3.2

136.5 ± 2.9

122.1 ± 3.9

0.005

136.0 ± 7.3

97.4 ± 4.6

 < 0.001

Fasting glucose (mg/dL)

113.4 ± 1.5

102.0 ± 1.1

112.9 ± 1.6

104.9 ± 1.4

0.002

115.8 ± 4.9

93.8 ± 1.5

 < 0.001

Fasting insulin (mU/L)

10.5 ± 0.4

8.3 ± 0.4

10.5 ± 0.4

8.8 ± 0.4

0.015

10.8 ± 1.2

6.7 ± 0.5

0.003

HbA1c (%)

6.65 ± 0.05

5.67 ± 0.15

6.63 ± 0.05

5.75 ± 0.20

 < 0.001

6.74 ± 0.13

5.47 ± 0.07

 < 0.001

Systolic BP (mmHg)

138.3 ± 0.8

141.2 ± 1.0

137.6 ± 0.8

142.5 ± 1.2

0.001

141.7 ± 1.9

136.9 ± 2.3

0.119

Diastolic BP (mmHg)

76.9 ± 0.4

83.1 ± 0.6

77.5 ± 0.5

84.6 ± 0.7

 < 0.001

74.2 ± 0.9

78.5 ± 1.2

0.005