TABLE 2.

Baseline clinical characteristics of Con-A, Con-C, RA-A and RA-C groups

Characteristics	Con-A(n = 21)	Con-C(n = 21)	p	RA-A(n = 28)	RA-C(n = 27)	p
Age (years)	50 ± 11	50 ± 13	0.920	51 ± 14	51 ± 13	0.914
Male/female, %	3/18, 14/86	2/19, 10/90	0.634	4/24,14/86	2/24,7/93	0.413
Rheumatoid factor-positive, no. (%)	—	—	—	18 (64)	21 (78)	0.271
Disease duration (years)	—	—	—	10.95 ± 8.52	13.15 ± 8.24	0.217
hs-CRP (mg/l)	—	—	—	14.00 ± 7.29	14.65 ± 8.50	0.822
ESR (mm/h)	—	—	—	20.86 ± 8.93	20.63 ± 7.20	0.930
DAS28	—	—	—	5.74 ± 0.86	5.60 ± 0.86	0.577
IL-6 (pg/ml)	—	—	—	16.53 ± 12.56	18.7 ± 12.3	0.348
ICAM-1 (ng/ml)	—	—	—	222.50 ± 88.45	269.6 ± 62.3	0.081
Total cholesterol (mmol/l)	4.51 ± 0.40	4.57 ± 0.46	0.687	4.51 ± 0.38	4.48 ± 0.47	0.738
HDL cholesterol (mmol/l)	1.18 ± 0.24	1.24 ± 0.38	0.970	1.23 ± 0.29	1.27 ± 0.29	0.606
LDL cholesterol (mmol/l)	2.60 ± 0.37	2.61 ± 0.33	0.970	2.50 ± 0.38	2.51 ± 0.43	0.754
Triglycerides (mmol/l)	1.24 ± 0.39	1.35 ± 0.25	0.099	1.37 ± 0.37	1.25 ± 0.31	0.105
Medication, no. (%)
Methotrexate	—	—	—	19 (68)	17 (63)	0.703
Leflunomide	—	—	—	3 (11)	1 (4)	0.317
Sulfasalazine	—	—	—	2 (7)	4 (15)	0.362
TNF inhibitor	—	—	—	6 (21)	10 (37)	0.203
NSAIDs	—	—	—	24 (86)	18 (66)	0.096
Prednisone	—	—	—	5 (18)	2 (7)	0.245

Values are presented as means ± SD.