Table 4. Association of Methotrexate With Routine Blood Test Results and Hepatic and Renal Function Analyses.
| Variable | Patients With Psoriatic Arthritis (n = 128) | Patients Without Psoriatic Arthritis (n = 107) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mean (SD) | P Valuea | Mean (SD) | P Valuea | ||||||
| Week 0 | Week 8 | Week 12 | Week 0 | Week 8 | Week 12 | ||||
| RBC count, ×106/μL | 4.87 (0.43) | 4.72 (0.43) | 4.67 (0.40) | <.001 | 4.86 (0.47) | 4.73 (0.47) | 4.67 (0.48) | <.001 | |
| MCV, μm3 | 90.58 (4.45) | 91.77 (4.31) | 92.42 (4.44) | <.001 | 91.15 (4.05) | 92.48 (4.21) | 93.16 (3.94) | <.001 | |
| Hemoglobin level, g/dL | 14.66 (1.43) | 14.44 (1.37) | 14.41 (1.28) | <.001 | 14.78 (1.38) | 14.58 (1.32) | 14.55 (1.42) | .003 | |
| WBC count, /μL | 6920 (1720) | 1490 (1960) | 6240 (1650) | <.001 | 7060 (1950) | 6560 (1990) | 6610 (2070) | .009 | |
| Neutrophil count, /μL | 4450 (1390) | 4180 (1690) | 4030 (1320) | .005 | 4600 (1590) | 4230 (1610) | 4380 (1650) | .054 | |
| Neutrophils, % | 63.52 (8.27) | 63.25 (8.26) | 63.90 (7.97) | .63 | 64.52 (6.94) | 63.58 (6.97) | 65.41 (7.12) | .02 | |
| Lymphocytes, % | 26.53 (7.79) | 26.02 (7.44) | 25.73 (7.43) | .28 | 25.98 (6.32) | 25.95 (6.03) | 24.47 (5.99) | .009 | |
| Monocytes, % | 7.09 (1.73) | 7.70 (2.11) | 7.49 (1.96) | <.001 | 6.79 (1.73) | 7.57 (2.04) | 7.41 (2.20) | <.001 | |
| Platelet count, ×103/μL | 233.00 (68.63) | 232.40 (63.55) | 231.00 (60.80) | .86 | 232.10 (60.45) | 235.90 (58.97) | 232.90 (62.30) | .51 | |
| ALT level, U/L | 30.13 (17.49) | 40.18 (35.56) | 40.90 (36.70) | <.001 | 32.32 (22.67) | 36.16 (34.55) | 35.76 (29.66) | .41 | |
| AST level, U/L | 22.51 (8.67) | 25.46 (12.94) | 25.84 (12.74)a | .007 | 25.20 (19.22) | 24.19 (11.98) | 24.01 (10.18) | .97 | |
| ALP level, U/L | 83.55 (29.62) | NA | 83.15 (24.7) | .78 | 80.67 (17.92) | NA | 80.79 (20.38) | .91 | |
| γ-GGT level, U/L | 26.36 (19.2) | NA | 25.06 (19.21) | .46 | 21.36 (18.21) | NA | 19.79 (11.01) | .30 | |
| Albumin level, g/dL | 4.56 (0.31) | NA | 4.62 (0.25) | .02 | 4.66 (0.28) | NA | 4.66 (0.27) | .73 | |
| Globulin level, g/dL | 3.04 (0.53) | NA | 2.96 (0.50) | .014 | 2.92 (0.37) | NA | 2.95 (0.41) | .47 | |
| Albumin-globulin ratio | 1.55 (0.30) | NA | 1.61 (0.29) | .004 | 1.62 (0.23) | NA | 1.61 (0.26) | .84 | |
| DBIL, mg/dL | 0.20 (0.10) | NA | 0.22 (0.09) | .004 | 0.21 (0.09) | NA | 0.23 (0.09) | .03 | |
| TBIL, mg/d | 0.63 (0.34) | NA | 0.66 (0.27) | .12 | 0.62 (0.24) | NA | 0.65 (0.24) | .24 | |
| UA level, mg/dL | 0.01 (0.00) | 0.01 (0.00) | 0.36 (0.0) | .99 | 0.36 (0.0) | 0.36 (0.0) | 0.36 (0.0) | .52 | |
| CRE concentration, mg/dL | 0.76 (0.16) | 0.76 (0.17) | 0.75 (0.15) | .24 | 0.77 (0.16) | 0.76 (0.16) | 0.76 (0.15) | .87 | |
| BUN concentration, mg/dL | 14.37 (3.53) | 14.40 (3.61) | 14.43 (3.42) | .99 | 14.37 (3.81) | 14.17 (3.73) | 14.48 (3.73) | .60 | |
Abbreviations: ALP, alkaline phosphatase; ALT, alanine transaminase; AST, aspartate transaminase; BUN, blood urea nitrogen; CRE, creatinine; DBIL, direct bilirubin; HGB, hemoglobin; MCV, mean corpuscular volume; NA, not applicable; RBC, red blood cell; TBIL, total bilirubin; UA, uric acid; WBC, white blood cell; γ-GGT, γ-glutamyltransferase.
SI conversion factors: to convert RBCs to ×1012/L, multiply by 1; MCV to femtoliters, multiply by 1; hemoglobin to grams per liter, multiply by 10; WBCs to ×109/L, multiply by 0.001; neutrophils to ×109/L, multiply by 0.001; percentages of neutrophils, lymphocytes, and monocytes to proportion of 1.0, multiply by 0.01; platelets to ×109/L, multiply by 1; ALT, AST, ALP, and γ-GGT to microkatals per liter, multiply by 0.0167; albumin and globulin to grams per liter, multiply by 10; DBIL and TBIL to micromoles per liter, multiply by 10; UA to micromoles per liter, multiply by 10; CRE to micromoles per liter, multiply by 88.4; and BUN to millimoles per liter, multiply by 0.357.
One-way analyses of variance with repeated measures and paired t tests were used when appropriate. Multiple test correction was conducted using the Benjamini-Hochberg procedure. Results were compared with baseline (0 weeks). P < .05 is considered to be statistically significant.