Table 2.

Antirheumatic agents and aminotransferase concentrations in 77 rheumatoid arthritis patients

Characteristic	Mean [95% CI] or n (%)
Antirheumatic agents in 34 methotrexate naïve patients
Non-steroidal antiinflammatory agents	14 (41)
Prednisone users	4 (12)
Prednisone dose (mg/l)*	1.2 [1.0–1.4]
Disease modifying agents
Users	13 (38)
Leflunomide	6 (18)
Chloroquine	5 (15)
Sulphasalazine	3 (9)
Azathioprine	2 (6)
Antirheumatic agents in 43 patients before methotrexate use
Non-steroidal antiinflammatory agents	32 (74)
Prednisone users	17 (40)
Prednisone dose (mg/l)*	2.4 [1.7–3.4]
Disease modifying agents
Users	13 (30)
Sulphasalazine	10 (23)
Chloroquine	3 (7)
Antirheumatic agents in 43 patients using methotrexate
Non-steroidal antiinflammatory agents	20 (48)
Prednisone users	7 (16)
Prednisone dose (mg/l)*	1.0 [1.1–1.5]
Disease modifying agents
Methotrexate dose (mg/week)	19.6 [17.5–21.7]
Chloroquine	21 (49)
Minocyclin	12 (28)
Leflunomide	5 (12)
Sulphasalazine	4 (9)
Azathioprine	3 (7)
Aminotransferase levels in 34 methotrexate naïve patients
Alanine aminotransferase (u/l)	27 [22–31]
Aspartate aminotransferase (u/l)	23 [22–25]
Aminotransferase levels in 43 patients before methotrexate use
Alanine aminotransferase (u/l)	19 [17–22]
Aspartate aminotransferase (u/l)	20 [18–22]
Aminotransferase levels in 43 patients using methotrexate
Alanine aminotransferase (u/l)	38 [33–42]
Aspartate aminotransferase (u/l)	30 [27–34]
Increases in aminotransferase levels in 43 patients on methotrexate
Alanine aminotransferase (u/l)	18 [14–23]†
Aspartate aminotransferase (u/l)	11 [7–14]†
Change in weight in 43 patients since using methotrexate (kg)	-0.7 [-0.2–0.6]‡
Duration of methotrexate therapy in 43 patients (years)	5.1 [4.1–6.1]

*Variables for which geometric means [95% CI] are given. ^†p < 0.0001; ^‡p = 0.7.