Table 4.
Analyses of complement activation markers in the subgroups of patients with systemic sclerosis
| n | C4d, mean (SD) | p value | C3bBbP, mean (SD) | p value | TCC, mean (SD) | p value | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sex | 0.96 | 0.20 | 0.87 | ||||
| Male | 22 | 35.6 (40.3) | 913 (574) | 5.80 (3.69) | |||
| Female | 100 | 29.2 (18.3) | 1119 (661) | 8.39 (15.8) | |||
| Subset | 0.88 | 0.11 | 0.36 | ||||
| lcSSc | 81 | 30.1 (25.2) | 1143 (655) | 8.56 (16.4) | |||
| dcSSc | 41 | 30.8 (20.7) | 962 (629) | 6.66 (9.34) | |||
| PAH | 0.19 | 0.75 | 0.76 | ||||
| No | 96 | 31.8 (25.3) | 1069 (645) | 7.50 (12.4) | |||
| Yes | 26 | 25.0 (16.0) | 1131 (676) | 9.49 (20.5) | |||
| SRC | 0.036 | <0.001 | 0.003 | ||||
| No | 104 | 28.9 (23.7) | 1156 (655) | 8.57 (15.4) | |||
| Yes | 18 | 38.6 (22.9) | 656 (423) | 4.22 (5.54) | |||
| Ab | 0.095 | 0.055 | 0.016 | ||||
| ACA | 34 | 30.7 (16.9) | 1029 (594) | 5.83 (5.70) | |||
| ATA | 22 | 32.7 (18.8) | 1140 (744) | 10.8 (22.0) | |||
| ARA | 17 | 35.0 (22.5) | 761 (560) | 3.19 (2.59) | |||
| ANA+ | 40 | 29.5 (32.2) | 1195 (642) | 10.6 (18.0) | |||
| ANA− | 9 | 18.1 (10.0) | 1244 (705) | 5.62 (3.36) | |||
| Pitting scar | 0.50 | 0.35 | 0.76 | ||||
| No | 68 | 31.0 (26.1) | 1071 (658) | 9.30 (18.6) | |||
| Yes | 50 | 28.6 (19.0) | 1155 (633) | 6.53 (5.62) | |||
| Ulcer | 0.35 | 0.36 | 0.54 | ||||
| No | 105 | 30.5 (23.9) | 1090 (656) | 8.31 (15.3) | |||
| Yes | 14 | 25.5 (17.8) | 1183 (574) | 6.19 (6.53) | |||
| Telangiectasias | 0.83 | 0.19 | 0.39 | ||||
| No | 56 | 28.5 (17.8) | 1003 (586) | 6.07 (3.80) | |||
| Yes | 63 | 31.2 (27.2) | 1189 (687) | 9.84 (19.6) |
Abbreviations: PAH Pulmonary arterial hypertension, SRC Scleroderma renal crisis, Ab Autoantibodies, ACA Anti-centromere, ATA Anti-topoisomerase I, ARA Anti-RNA polymerase III, ANA + Anti-nuclear but not anti-centromere, anti-topoisomerase I or anti-RNA polymerase III, ANA − No anti-nuclear autoantibodies, dcSSc Diffuse cutaneous systemic sclerosis, lcSSc Limited cutaneous systemic sclerosis, TCC Terminal complement complex
Autoantibody analyses were by Kruskal-Wallis test; all others were by Mann-Whitney U test