Proseek multiplex inflammation panel

The expression of 92 inflammation-related protein biomarkers in plasma were analyzed by the Proseek Multiplex Inflammation Panel (version 95302) from Olink Biosciences, Uppsala, Sweden. Assay characteristics and validations are available from the manufacturer’s webpage (https://www.olink.com/resources-support/document-download-center/#). In brief, antibodies labelled with complementary oligonucleotide sequences were allowed to bind pairwise to the target protein. Upon DNA-polymerization, the paired oligonucleotides form a reporter sequence that was amplified by qRT-PCR. Data are expressed as Normalized Protein Expression (NPX) units on a log2 scale calculated from normalized Ct values. Samples that deviated more than 0.3 NPX from the median value of an internal control were excluded. The lower limit of detection (LOD) was defined as three standard deviations above background. 71 proteins with > 75% of samples above LOD were included in the analyses and, in accordance with recommendations by the company, values below LOD were not replaced by arbitrary values. The full names of the proteins are given in Supplementary Table ^S6.