Figure 1. Association of serum adipsin levels with lcSSc and pulmonary arterial hypertension.
A. Serum levels of adipsin are not significantly different in patients than controls. B. Limited (lcSSc) patients have higher adipsin levels than controls (p=0.02) or diffuse (dcSSc) patients (p<0.0001) The blue dotted line represents the upper cutoff value for adipsin. Association of SSc groups stratified by limited/diffuse status and adipsin level with C. centromere, D. Scl70 antibodies, E. Pulmonary artery systolic pressure measured by echocardiography, F. Right heart catheterization-proven PAH. G. FVC/DLCO ratio H. DLCO I. TAPSE J. E' Lateral velocity. In panels C-H “dcSSc” group represents 82 patients with 81/82 having low adipsin, “lcSSc adipsin low” comprises 86 patients and “lcSSc adipsin high” represents 30 patients. Red bars indicate the mean ± 95% C.I. for each group. Mann-Whitney p-values are listed for each comparison. *p<0.01
Abbreviations. SSc = systemic sclerosis, lcSSc = limited cutaneous systemic sclerosis, dcSSc = diffuse cutaneous systemic sclerosis. PA = pulmonary artery. RHC = right heart catheterization. PAH = pulmonary arterial hypertension. FVC = forced vital capacity. DLCO = diffusion of lung carbon monoxide. TAPSE = tricuspid annular plane systolic excursion.