Table 1.
Major demographic, clinical, and laboratory characteristics of analyzed cohorts.
| RA | SLE | OA | HC | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| N (males/females) | 45 (12/33) | 40 (4/36)¶ | 48 (13/25) | 51 (18/33) |
| age (years) | 54 ± 13** | 41 ± 13*** | 66 ± 10* | 44 ± 15 |
| disease duration (years) | 13 ± 7 | 8 ± 8 | 8 ± 7 | |
| DAS28 | 4.7 ± 1.2 | |||
| SLEDAI | 11.8 ± 6.7 | |||
| K/L grade (I/II/III/IV) |
2.6 ± 0.8 (2/22/17/7) |
|||
| CRP (mg/l) | 15.0 ± 19.2† | 4.0 ± 3.8 | 4.0 ± 3.3 | |
| ESR (mm/h) | 28 ± 21 | |||
RA - rheumatoid arthritis; SLE - systemic lupus erythematosus; OA - osteoarthritis; HC - healthy volunteers (controls). Continuous characteristics are expressed as mean ± SD. ¶The proportion males/females in cohort of SLE patients was significantly different from other three cohorts that did not significantly differ from each other. *The mean age of OA patients was significantly higher than the mean age of all three other cohorts; **the mean age of RA patients was significantly lower then the mean age of OA patients but significantly higher than the mean age of subjects in SLE and HC cohorts; *** the mean age of subjects in SLE and HC cohorts did not significantly differ. †The mean level of CRP in sera of RA patients was significantly higher than the mean level of CRP in sera of patients with SLE and OA.