Table 1.

Characteristics of the patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and healthy controls. Note: ESR: erythrocyte sedimentation rate; CRP: C-reactive protein; DAS28: 28-joint Disease Activity Score; RF: rheumatoid factor; anti-CCP: anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide; NSAIDs: Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs; DMARDs: Disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs; TNF-α inhibitor: tumor necrosis factor alpha inhibitor

Parameter	RA (N=74)	Healthy controls (N=51)
Sex, no. men/ no. women	16/58	20/31
Age, years, mean ± S.D.	46.50±15.46	42.08±11.48
ESR, mm/ hour, mean ± S.D.	49.74±33.29	-
CRP, mg/dl, mean ± S.D.	32.39±41.88	-
DAS28, mean ± S.D.	4.54±1.54	-
RF, no. positive/ no. negative	45/20	-
Anti-CCP, no. positive/ no. negative	37/15	-
Treatment no. of patients		-
None	18
NSAIDs	18
DMARDs	51
TNF-α inhibitor	7
Steroids	26