Table III.

Comparison of the levels of hs-CRP and IL-18 between the treatment group and the control group before treatment, at 2 weeks, 3 months and 6 months after treatment.

Group	hs-CRP (mg/l)	IL-18 (pg/ml)
Control group (n=25)	2.05±0.94	39.16±0.17
Treatment group (n=28)
Before treatment	5.36±1.54	59.63±15.02
After treatment
2 weeks	4.07±1.36	52.39±11.22
3 months	2.95±0.98	43.61±4.16
6 months	2.11±0.53	39.15±2.79

i) Compared with the same group before treatment, P<0.01; ii) compared with the control group before treatment, P<0.01; iii) compared with the control group 6 months after treatment, P>0.05. hs-CRP, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein; IL-18, interleukin-18.