About the Authors

Birte Holtfreter

birte.holtfreter@uni-greifswald.de

Affiliation Unit of Periodontology, Department of Restorative Dentistry, Periodontology, and Endodontology, University Medicine, University of Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany

Klaus Empen

Affiliation Department of Internal Medicine, University Medicine, University of Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany

Sven Gläser

Affiliation Department of Internal Medicine, University Medicine, University of Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany

Roberto Lorbeer

Affiliation Institute for Community Medicine, SHIP/Clinical-Epidemiological Research, University Medicine, University of Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany

Henry Völzke

Affiliation Institute for Community Medicine, SHIP/Clinical-Epidemiological Research, University Medicine, University of Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany

Ralf Ewert

Affiliation Department of Internal Medicine, University Medicine, University of Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany

Thomas Kocher

Affiliation Unit of Periodontology, Department of Restorative Dentistry, Periodontology, and Endodontology, University Medicine, University of Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany

Marcus Dörr

Affiliations Department of Internal Medicine, University Medicine, University of Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany, German Centre for Cardiovascular Research (DZHK), partner site Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany

Competing Interests

We have the following interests. BH was financed by an unlimited grant from GABA, Switzerland. There are no patents, products in development or marketed products to declare. This does not alter our adherence to all the PLOS ONE policies on sharing data and materials, as detailed online in the guide for authors.

Author Contributions

Conceived and designed the experiments: KE SG HV RE TK MD. Performed the experiments: HV TK MD. Analyzed the data: BH RL. Contributed reagents/materials/analysis tools: KE SG HV RE TK MD. Wrote the manuscript: BH KE RL HV RE TK MD.