Table 2. Comparison of clinical characteristics in ankylosing spondylitis and healthy controls.

Variables	Ankylosing spondylitis	Healthy controls	p Value
n	30	25
EPC %	0.020 ± 0.001	0.040 ± 0.010	< 0.001
FMD %	7.35 ± 2.54	10.27 ± 1.73	0.002
CIMT (cm)	0.63 ± 0.01	0.35 ± 0.02	< 0.001
TNF-α (pg/mL)	5.07 ± 2.04	3.6 ± 1.5	0.001
IL-6 (pg/mL)	8.77 ± 3.67	4.2 ± 2.83	0.004
IL-1 (pg/mL)	179.0 ± 74.8	102.4 ± 36.3	0.001

Abbreviations: CIMT, carotid intima-media thickness; EPC, endothelial progenitor cells; FMD, flow-mediated dilatation; IL-1, interleukin-1; IL-6, interleukin-6; TNF-α, tumor necrosis factor-α.

Note: Values are mean ± SD. Values in bold indicate, p-value < 0.05.