Table 5.
Time course of plasma C-reactive protein (mg/L) in all patients and in the three diagnostic categories from admission to day 5
| All | Day 0 | Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Day 5 |
| AOX | 49 (0–2,350) | 129 (2–359)a | 161 (2–364)a | 125 (150–399)a,b | 100 (16–401)b | 80 (14–401) |
| Placebo | 35 (2–176) | 141 (2–341)a | 174 (2–410)a | 156 (2–360)a,b | 114 (2–438)b | 82 (3–388) |
| Cardiac surgery | ||||||
| AOX | 59 (2–150) | 150 (2–359)a | 165 (2–317)a | 123 (20–367)a | 84 (20–319)b | 81 (14–243) |
| Placebo | 39 (2–176) | 142 (37–341)a | 177 (53–410)a | 158 (44–360)a | 117(26–225)b | 81 (19–178) |
| Trauma | ||||||
| AOX | 35 (2–158) | 126 (4–282)a,b | 164 (9–464)a | 146 (41–399)a | 146 (41–282)a | 114 (41–282)a |
| Placebo | 32 (2–224) | 147 (5–327)a,b | 201 (46–326)a | 174 (34–328)a | 161 (21–438)a | 117 (34–388)a |
| Subarachnoid hemorrhage | ||||||
| AOX | 32 (0–230) | 38 (3–277) | 42 (15–184) | 67 (16–103) | 44 (16–401) | 29 (8–401) |
| Placebo | 10 (2–61) | 27 (2–185) | 22 (2–179) | 16 (2–233) | 22 (2–233) | 21 (2–163) |
Data are presented as median (range). C-reactive protein differed over time in the antioxidant (AOX) and placebo groups (two-factor repeated analysis of variance: time effect P < 0.0001, group effect P = 0.039, and interaction (time*group) P = 0.16 to not significant [NS]). The attenuation of inflammation was most significant in cardiac patients (time effect P < 0.0001, group effect P = 0.41 [NS], and interaction (time*group) P = 0.0075) and in trauma patients (time effect P < 0.0001, group NS, and time*group NS). No significant change over time was observed in subarachnoid hemorrhage patients. The post hoc comparisons were carried out with the Dunnett test (asignificant difference versus baseline within groups) and the Scheffe test (bsignificant difference between groups at the same time).