Table 1.
Characteristics of Rheumatoid Arthritis Patients and Control Subjects
| Characteristics: | Long-standing RA (N=69) | Early RA (N=90) | Control subjects (N=88) | P-Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Demography: | ||||
| Age (yrs) | 59 (51–67) | 51 (43–59) | 53 (45–59) | <0.001 |
| Female (%) | 74% | 64% | 64% | 0.33 |
| Caucasian (%) | 87% | 91% | 84% | 0.36 |
| Current smoker (%) | 26% | 21% | 9% | 0.02 |
| Hypertensive (%) | 67% | 40% | 41% | 0.001 |
| Diabetes mellitus (%) | 10% | 11% | 5% | 0.25 |
| Body mass index | 27 (24–31) | 28 (24–34) | 27 (25–32) | 0.37 |
| Family history CHD (%) | 28% | 27% | 30% | 0.91 |
| Coronary artery procedure* (%) | 12% | 7% | 6% | 0.35 |
| Cardiovascular disease** | 20% | 11% | 8% | 0.06 |
| Creatinine | 0.8 (0.6–0.9) | 0.8 (0.7–0.9) | 0.8 (0.7–0.9) | 0.53 |
| Homocysteine (μmol/l) | 10.8 (8.2–12.4) | 9.5 (8.1–11.4) | 8.2 (7.2–9.6) | <0.001 |
| TNF-α (pg/ml) | 6.5 (3.3–11.1) | 4.7 (2.6–11.2) | 3.2 (2.3–4.7) | <0.001 |
| IL-6 (pg/ml) | 16.8 (6.4–58.6) | 12.6 (3.7–34.6) | 4.0 (1.1–18.1) | <0.001 |
| NT-proBNP (pg/ml)*** | 142.8 (54.8–270.5) | 58.1 (19.4–157.6) | 18.1 (3.2–46.0) | <0.001 |
*
Coronary artery procedure represents the proportion of patients who had undergone a previous stent, balloon angioplasty or coronary artery bypass graft.
**
Cardiovascular disease represents the proportion of patients who had had a myocardial infarction, angina, stroke or coronary procedure
***
A sensitivity analysis excluding thirty two patients receiving anti TNF-α therapy at the time of the study showed essentially the same results: NT-proBNP concentrations (pg/ml) were 152.9 [61.5–315.8] in patients with long-standing RA, 58.1 [19.1–164.7] in patients with early RA and 18.1 [3.2–46.0] in control subjects, p<0.001