Table 2.
Group-wise comparison of immunological and molecular markers at baseline (before treatment) and after treatment as well as timepoint-wise comparison within group
| Sr. no | Parameters | Groups | Before treatment | Mid treatment | After treatment | P-value (time-point comparison in each group) | Kruskal P-value (group-wise comparison at baseline) | Kruskal P-value (group-wise comparison at after treatment) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | IFN-α2 (pg/ml) | Group A | 10.36 (5.38–17.52) | 11.3 (5.7–23.81) | 11.3 (7.88–20.1) | 0.78 | 0.531 | 0.368 |
| Group B | 8.65 (4.05–13.08) | 7.88 (1.37–12.43) | 7.88 (4.34–20.1) | 0.37 | ||||
| Group C | 11.3 (2.42–15.98) | 6.15 (2.42–17.52) | 6.15 (2.23–17.74) | 0.3 | ||||
| 2 | IFN-γ (pg/ml) | Group A | 5.29 (2.43–13.88) | 6.21 (1.86–13.88) | 6.41 (1.82–10.83) | 0.2 | 0.23 | 0.768 |
| Group B | 1 (0.69–8.56) | 9.39 (5.82–13.06) | 11.37 (1–18.34) | 0.06 | ||||
| Group C | 7.76 (2.75–13.88) | 6.81 (3.91–11.24) | 5.35 (1–8.25) | 0.88 | ||||
| 3 | IL-1β (pg/ml) | Group A | 11.15 (3.45–22.69) | 14.4 (6.21–24.49) | 14.51 (7.86–24.37) | 0.09 | 0.314 | 0.978 |
| Group B | 12.04 (2.62–26.07) | 14.08 (3.48–38.09) | 20.53 (12.3–45.08) | 0.69 | ||||
| Group C | 4.08 (1.88–18.07) | 9.24 (2.41–29.54) | 11.51 (3.77–27.31) | 0.16,## | ||||
| 4 | IL-1Ra (pg/ml) | Group A | 34.05 (17.74–64.02) | 39.88 (14.57–68.21) | 33 (24.66–76.63) | 0.73 | 0.378 | 0.483 |
| Group B | 22.33 (14.32–32.16) | 37.28 (9.97–58.86) | 41.07 (10.99–74.45) | 0.53 | ||||
| Group C | 28.74 (10.83–47.4) | 28.24 (13.03–58.5) | 39.62 (27.14–70.46) | 0.14 | ||||
| 5 | IL-4 (pg/ml) | Group A | 0.48 (0.24–1.38) | 0.24 (0.17–0.75) | 0.3 (0.24–0.75) | 0.15 | 0.568 | 0.688 |
| Group B | 2.88 (1.67–4.22) | 0.35 (0.14–0.79) | 0.36 (0.17–1.56) | 0.22 | ||||
| Group C | 0.69 (0.27–2.44) | 0.46 (0.22–1.1) | 0.24 (0.14–0.38) | 0.55 | ||||
| 6 | IL-6 (pg/ml) | Group A | 13.88 (5.83–36.54) | 14.52 (5.09–33.29) | 22.29 (5.98–105.94) | 0.78 | 0.271 | 0.916 |
| Group B | 8.13 (3.81–12.2) | 11.21 (4.58–31.67) | 11.69 (6.67–54.23) | 0.23 | ||||
| Group C | 17.17 (3.88–39.73) | 8.87 (4.96–22.95) | 21.33 (7.81–32.38) | 0.55 | ||||
| 7 | IL-7 (pg/ml) | Group A | 6.16 (2.81–10.3) | 4.47 (2.77–10.23) | 3.39 (2.19–9.66) | 0.24 | 0.311 | 0.603 |
| Group B | 3.75 (2.29–5.24) | 2.7 (1.78–5.41) | 3.68 (1.69–5.08) | 0.69 | ||||
| Group C | 3.78 (2.08–6.06) | 4.74 (2.49–8.48) | 3.71 (1.79–5.98) | 0.1 | ||||
| 8 | IL-8 (pg/ml) | Group A | 1589.84 (94.64–2814.19) | 1290.48 (105.63–3925.97) | 1648.81 (522.78–4837.69) | 0.73 | 0.118 | 0.841 |
| Group B | 111.9 (37.5–1671.22) | 1247.77 (445.95–1964.53) | 1141.64 (286.89–3743.95) | 0.33 | ||||
| Group C | 2331.61 (87.84–3645.23) | 543.09 (141.76–1350.67) | 2141.51 (366.62–3505.66) | 0.39 | ||||
| 9 | IL-13 (pg/ml) | Group A | 11.25 (5.21–18.36) | 18.03 (8.51–35.56) | 16.87 (10.34–49.96) | 0.79 | 0.28 | 0.714 |
| Group B | 16.87 (8.51–29.32) | 15.69 (3.36–45.12) | 13.93 (6.92–54.09) | 0.16 | ||||
| Group C | 20.79 (9.77–46.52) | 24.29 (16.56–40.81) | 13.93 (9.43–40) | 0.44 | ||||
| 10 | IL-18 (pg/ml) | Group A | 76.84 (55.65–112.39) | 74.06 (43.97–115.96) | 64.29 (50.38–116.55) | 0.26 | 0.0846 | 0.901 |
| Group B | 65.91 (53.12–89.69) | 77.68 (62.18–104.55) | 70.48 (55.82–118.18) | 0.62 | ||||
| Group C | 54.86 (43.24–82.09) | 55.1 (44.32–78.36) | 53.22 (41.92–112.45) | 0.39 | ||||
| 11 | IP-10 (pg/ml) | Group A | 397.39 (226.52–509.64) | 318.07 (108.19–419.83) | 327.57 (145.22–453.67) | 0.58 | 0.506 | 0.158 |
| Group B | 253.98 (187.69–426) | 252.32 (200.42–423.24) | 309.83 (203.02–367.4) | 0.84 | ||||
| Group C | 311.58 (203.43–473.01) | 273.6 (143.32–392.26) | 181.46 (41.8–276.19) | 0.13 | ||||
| 12 | MCP-1 (pg/ml) | Group A | 865.52 (592.75–1244.08) | 1007.43 (459.96–1541.01) | 832.16 (463.76–1169.22) | 0.9 | 0.0258,b | 0.515 |
| Group B | 841.79 (571.82–1041.41) | 728.13 (508.48–1432.78) | 1228.18 (669.23–1970.4) | 0.43 | ||||
| Group C | 1226.77 (810.12–1849.29) | 928.61 (740.18–1035.01) | 930.41 (790.17–1392.61) | 0.29 | ||||
| 13 | MCP-3 (pg/ml) | Group A | 89.35 (12.62–215.72) | 78.44 (13.82–230.03) | 152.67 (44.16–318.96) | 0.64 | 0.0771 | 0.116 |
| Group B | 44.23 (25.4–155.4) | 58.89 (39.24–118.94) | 59.22 (27.09–204.47) | 0.79 | ||||
| Group C | 166.85 (92.77–298.22) | 33.41 (19.8–72.81) | 47.93 (15.59–94.81) | 0.0087,## | ||||
| 14 | TNF-α (pg/ml) | Group A | 41.18 (26.32–59.9) | 45.35 (21.05–75.4) | 51.43 (27.54–64.03) | 0.47 | 0.306 | 0.54 |
| Group B | 25.52 (19.21–53.71) | 40.38 (25.2–92.53) | 49.28 (26.52–99.21) | 0.003,*,# | ||||
| Group C | 37.46 (24.89–69.48) | 36.74 (25.66–62.7) | 35.1 (27.19–50.6) | 0.38 | ||||
| 15 | VEGFA (pg/ml) | Group A | 480.99 (285.89–636.79) | 377.62 (219.15–635.01) | 381.35 (281.06–570.29) | 0.01 | 0.126 | 0.495 |
| Group B | 282.27 (162.7–493.66) | 353.34 (258.11–538.16) | 454.78 (225.08–600.5) | 0.69 | ||||
| Group C | 304.4 (184.82–473.7) | 312.26 (208–491.95) | 368.2 (188.75–442.4) | 0.95 | ||||
| 16 | HIF-1α (pg/ml) | Group A | 164.24 (130.91–315.45) | 193.6 (117.01–260.42) | 140.03 (89.96–235.4) | 0.036,## | 0.4406 | 0.8979 |
| Group B | 151.05 (119.55–253.94) | 142.77 (94.96–184.16) | 159.57 (95.94–228.1) | 0.26 | ||||
| Group C | 149.04 (109.67–199.79) | 132.13 (96.34–226.47) | 132.73 (91.4–228.36) | 0.058 | ||||
| 17 | vWF (ng/ml) | Group A | 11.85 (3.35–23.61) | 8.9 (4.74–14.2) | 12.93 (5.32–21.85) | 0.7538 | 0.5913 | 0.2296 |
| Group B | 26.74 (12.1–30.9) | 21.92 (18.74–24.51) | 4.11 (3.03–7.3) | 0.1353 | ||||
| Group C | 17.3 (8.24–32.68) | 17.31 (12.97–18.4) | 10.35 (4.74–29.01) | 0.8825 | ||||
| 18 | hsCRP (mg/l) | Group A | 5.85 (3.4–9.52) | 3.76 (2.82–6.8) | 6.8 (3–7.02) | 0.186 | 0.705 | 0.0713 |
| Group B | 6.8 (3.53–11.96) | 5.15 (2.25–6.8) | 4.2 (2.62–6) | 0.093,* | ||||
| Group C | 6.8 (3.4–6.8) | 6.8 (1.69–6.8) | 3.4 (1.3–6.8) | 0.257 | ||||
| 19 | Serum ferritin (ng/ml) | Group A | 98.4 (65.93–164) | 105 (42.88–164) | 75.6 (29.88–141) | 0.009,# | 0.735 | 0.963 |
| Group B | 82 (36.55–155.5) | 89.7 (25.98–137.25) | 90.02 (29.75–181.5) | 0.448 | ||||
| Group C | 85.75 (45.78–140) | 89.3 (52.35–140.25) | 86.5 (36.03–152) | 0.386 | ||||
| 20 | D-dimer (ng/ml) | Group A | 349 (277.5–442) | 288 (245.25–423.25) | 309.5 (236.5–420.5) | 0.546 | 0.678 | 0.806 |
| Group B | 292 (246–470) | 356 (256–432) | 378.5 (258.25–442.5) | 0.753 | ||||
| Group C | 407 (295–472.75) | 341 (282.75–485.5) | 329.5 (276.75–426) | 0.061 |
Values are expressed as median (interquartile range)
HIF-1α, hypoxia-inducible factor-1 alpha; hsCRP, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein; IFN-α2, interferon alpha-2; IFN-γ, interferon-gamma; IL, interleukin; IL-1Ra, interleukin-1 receptor antagonist; IP-10, interferon γ-induced protein 10 kDa; MCP, monocyte chemoattractant protein; ng/ml, nanogram per millimeters; pg/ml, picograms per millimeters; TNF-α, tumor necrosis factor alpha; VEGFA, vascular endothelial growth factor A; vWF, von Willebrand factor
*Before treatment vs. mid-treatment; #, before treatment vs. after treatment; $, mid-treatment vs. after treatment; b, Group B vs Group C; * p < 0.05; ** p < 0.01; *** p < 0.001; **** p < 0.0001; * ∋ {*, #, $, b}