About the Authors

Nicolas Verheyen

nicolas.verheyen@medunigraz.at

Affiliation Department of Cardiology, Medical University of Graz, Graz, Austria

Astrid Fahrleitner-Pammer

Affiliation Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Medical University of Graz, Graz, Austria

Evgeny Belyavskiy

Affiliation Medizinische Klinik mit Schwerpunkt Kardiologie, Campus Virchow-Klinikum, Charité-Universitaetsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany

Martin R. Gruebler

Affiliations Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Medical University of Graz, Graz, Austria, Swiss Cardiovascular Center Bern, Department of Cardiology, Bern University Hospital, Bern, Switzerland

Hans Peter Dimai

Affiliation Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Medical University of Graz, Graz, Austria

Karin Amrein

Affiliation Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Medical University of Graz, Graz, Austria

Klemens Ablasser

Affiliation Department of Cardiology, Medical University of Graz, Graz, Austria

Johann Martensen

Affiliation Department of Cardiology, Medical University of Graz, Graz, Austria

Cristiana Catena

Affiliation Hypertension Unit, Internal Medicine, Department of Experimental and Clinical Medical Sciences, University of Udine, Udine, Italy

Elisabeth Pieske-Kraigher

Affiliation Medizinische Klinik mit Schwerpunkt Kardiologie, Campus Virchow-Klinikum, Charité-Universitaetsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany

Caterina Colantonio

Affiliation Department of Cardiology, Medical University of Graz, Graz, Austria

Jakob Voelkl

Affiliation Department of Physiology, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany

Florian Lang

Affiliation Department of Physiology, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany

Ioana Alesutan

Affiliation Department of Physiology, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany

Andreas Meinitzer

Affiliation Clinical Institute of Medical and Chemical Laboratory Diagnostics, Medical University of Graz, Graz, Austria

Winfried März

Affiliations Clinical Institute of Medical and Chemical Laboratory Diagnostics, Medical University of Graz, Graz, Austria, Synlab Academy, Synlab Services LLC, Mannheim, Germany, Medical Clinic V (Nephrology, Hypertensiology, Endocrinology), Medical Faculty Mannheim, Ruperto Carola University Heidelberg, Mannheim, Germany

Helmut Brussee

Affiliation Department of Cardiology, Medical University of Graz, Graz, Austria

Burkert Pieske

Affiliations Department of Cardiology, Medical University of Graz, Graz, Austria, Medizinische Klinik mit Schwerpunkt Kardiologie, Campus Virchow-Klinikum, Charité-Universitaetsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany

Stefan Pilz

Affiliations Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Medical University of Graz, Graz, Austria, Department of Health Sciences and the EMGO+ Institute, VU University Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Andreas Tomaschitz

Affiliations Department of Cardiology, Medical University of Graz, Graz, Austria, Medical Clinic V (Nephrology, Hypertensiology, Endocrinology), Medical Faculty Mannheim, Ruperto Carola University Heidelberg, Mannheim, Germany, Specialist Clinic for Rehabilitation Bad Gleichenberg, Bad Gleichenberg, Austria

Competing Interests

One of the coauthors (W.M.) is employed with a company (Synlab Holding Deutschland, Augsburg, Germany). This commercial affiliation of W.M. does not alter our adherence to PLOS ONE policies on sharing data and materials.

Author Contributions

Conceptualization: NV AFP SP AT. Data curation: NV AT. Formal analysis: NV AM JM AT. Funding acquisition: NV AT SP. Investigation: NV EB MRG HPD K Amrein K Ablasser JM EPK C Colantonio AM SP AT. Methodology: NV AFP SP AT. Project administration: NV SP AT. Resources: AM HB BP SP AT. Software: NV JM SP AT. Supervision: NV AFP SP AT. Validation: NV AT. Visualization: NV. Writing – original draft: NV AFP AT. Writing – review & editing: MRG HPD K Amrein K Ablasser C Catena JV FL IA WM SP AT.