Plasma samples were obtained from a total of 427 individuals. Baseline characteristics are outlined in Table 1. Control (n = 85) were taken from the population of the Coimbra and Lisbon, Portugal, regions. They satisfied the criterion that they had never had any CVD- or SLE-related health complaints. The CVD patients (n = 238) were divided into 6 groups. CVD1 (n = 61) contains individuals who went to the hospital with chest pain but had no indicators for stable angina pectoris, unstable angina pectoris or myocardial infarction. CVD2 (n = 82) are patients with stable angina pectoris (SAP). CVD1 and CVD2 are defined according to the ACCF/AHA/ACP/AATS/PCNA/SCAI/STS guidelines. CVD3 (n = 20) contains patients with unstable angina pectoris, CVD4 (n = 34) are patients who suffered an acute myocardial infarction with no ST-elevation in ECG, and CVD5 (n = 20) are patients who suffered acute myocardial infarction with ST-elevation in ECG. CVD3, CVD4, and CVD5, together, may be classified as patients with an acute coronary syndrome (ACS). CVD1 through CVD5 groups were all obtained from Hospital Santa Cruz, Carnaxide, Portugal. Acute ischemic stroke (IS) (n = 21) were patients admitted at the emergency room of the Centro Hospitalar de Lisboa Ocidental, Lisbon, Portugal, who suffered from acute ischemic stroke. The SLE cohort (n = 104) were patients from Hospital Dr. Fernando Fonseca, Amadora, Portugal. The inclusion criteria were all patients diagnosed with the pathology and above 18 years old. The exclusion criteria were the existence of serious renal and hepatic pathologies, cancer or existence of infectious diseases.
