highly significantp < 0.00013
In the second stage, SNPs/loci that passed a significant threshold (p < 0.05) were further pruned down with bonferroni correction and only those SNPs that were highly significant (p < 0.00013, Supplementary Table 3 ), and belonged in particular, to the extracellular matrix (ECM) i.e., Aggrecan and Fibulin-1 genes were selected for genotyping, as these genes were up-regulated and associated with aPWV in the gene profiling work.