About the Authors

Mahir Karakas

Contributed equally to this work with: Mahir Karakas, Jens Baumert

Affiliation Department of Internal Medicine II – Cardiology, University of Ulm Medical Centre, Ulm, Germany

Jens Baumert

Contributed equally to this work with: Mahir Karakas, Jens Baumert

Affiliation Institute of Epidemiology II, Helmholtz Zentrum München, German Research Center for Environmental Health, Neuherberg, Germany

Marcus E. Kleber

Affiliations Department of Internal Medicine II – Cardiology, University of Ulm Medical Centre, Ulm, Germany, Mannheim Institute of Public Health, Social and Preventive Medicine, Medical Faculty Mannheim, University of Heidelberg, Mannheim, Germany

Barbara Thorand

Affiliation Institute of Epidemiology II, Helmholtz Zentrum München, German Research Center for Environmental Health, Neuherberg, Germany

Dhayana Dallmeier

Affiliation Department of Internal Medicine II – Cardiology, University of Ulm Medical Centre, Ulm, Germany

Günther Silbernagel

Affiliation Division of Endocrinology, Diabetology, Nephrology, Vascular Disease, and Clinical Chemistry, Department of Internal Medicine, Eberhard-Karls-University Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany

Tanja B. Grammer

Affiliation Mannheim Institute of Public Health, Social and Preventive Medicine, Medical Faculty Mannheim, University of Heidelberg, Mannheim, Germany

Wolfgang Rottbauer

Affiliation Department of Internal Medicine II – Cardiology, University of Ulm Medical Centre, Ulm, Germany

Christa Meisinger

Affiliation Institute of Epidemiology II, Helmholtz Zentrum München, German Research Center for Environmental Health, Neuherberg, Germany

Thomas Illig

Affiliations Research Unit of Molecular Epidemiology, Helmholtz Zentrum München, German Research Center for Environmental Health, Neuherberg, Germany, Hannover Unified Biobank, Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany

Winfried März

Affiliations Mannheim Institute of Public Health, Social and Preventive Medicine, Medical Faculty Mannheim, University of Heidelberg, Mannheim, Germany, Clinical Institute of Medical and Chemical Laboratory Diagnostics, Medical University of Graz, Graz, Austria, Synlab Academy, Synlab Services GmbH, Mannheim, Germany

Wolfgang Koenig

wolfgang.koenig@uniklinik-ulm.de

Affiliation Department of Internal Medicine II – Cardiology, University of Ulm Medical Centre, Ulm, Germany

Competing Interests

The authors have the following interests: Authors Marz, Grammer, and Kleber are affiliated to Synlab Services GmbH and are involved in the educational training of the Synlab staff. This does not alter the authors' adherence to all the PLOS ONE policies on sharing data and materials.

Author Contributions

Conceived and designed the experiments: WM WK MK BT. Performed the experiments: CM TI DD GS TBG WR. Analyzed the data: JB MEK. Contributed reagents/materials/analysis tools: CM TI DD GS TBG WR. Wrote the paper: BT MK JB WK.