Table 3.

Inflammatory cytokines, C-reactive protein, erythrocyte sedimentation rate, and rheumatoid factor before and after 30 day treatment

	Placebo group (n = 14)		B6 group (n = 14)		p value (baseline)a	p value (treat)b
	Before	After	Before	After
PBMC IL-6 (pg/ml)c	490 (289–832)	1,369 (202–1,665)	1,112 (437–1,352)	1,476 (918–1,602)	0.698	0.315
PBMC TNF-α (ng/ml)d	224.6 (118.4–361.8)	341.5 (242.6–654.1)	114.1 (319.1–89.2)	178.7 (59.6–391.0)	0.320	0.963
Serum TNF-α (pg/ml)	1.7 (0.7–3.8)	2.1(0.3–5.5)	1.5 (0.9–2.7)	2.0 (0.9–3.6)	0.134	0.166
Serum CRP (mg/l)	13.0 (5.90–27.6)	7.0 (4.4–27.5)	2.0 (0.1–17.2)	3.0 (0.6–14.8)	0.387	<0.0001
ESR	31.0 (19.4–52.6)	32.0 (24.0–49.7)	27.5 (18.8–41.6)	31.0 (22.4–38.9)	0.425	<0.0001
RF (IU/ml)	72.0 (43.3–131.2)	93.8 (37.1–132.5)	76.4 (47.5–130.0)	73.8 (47.3–122.8)	0.697	<0.0001

Data are presented as median (95% CI). ^aEffects of each baseline (before treatment) value on its post-treatment outcome. ^bTreatment effects (placebo versus vitamin B6) were examined by analysis of covariance, adjusting for baseline (before) value. ^cSpontaneous production of IL-6 by peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs). ^dSpontaneous production of tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α by PBMCs. CRP, C-reactive protein; ESR, erythrocyte sedimentation rate; RF, rheumatoid factor.