Table 1.
Demographics and clinical characteristics of RA and control subjects
| Characteristic | Biologic-naïve RA (n = 8) | Non-RA control (n = 10) | P-value* |
|---|---|---|---|
| Age, years, mean | 55.1 (16.5) | 53.2 (16.0) | 0.81 |
| Female, % | 62.5% | 70.0% | 1.0 |
| Race+, % | |||
|
Caucasian Non-Caucasian African American Hispanic Indian Unknown |
50% 50% 25% 12.5% 12.5% 0% |
30% 70% 10% 10% 0% 50% |
0.63 |
| BMI (kg/m2) | 32.6 | – | |
| Diabetes mellitus | 0% | – | |
| Smoking history | |||
| Current | 12.5% | – | |
| Former | 37.5% | – | |
| Never | 50% | – | |
| RA disease characteristics | |||
| Remission, % | 75% | – | – |
| Autoantibody status | |||
| RF positive, % | 75% | – | – |
| ACPA positive, % | 75% | – | – |
| ESR mm/h, mean | 23.38 (17.73) | – | – |
| CRP mg/L, mean | 4.26 (1.64) | – | – |
| RAPID3 score, mean | 10.42 (5.71) | – | – |
| Medication history | |||
| DMARDs, % | 100% | – | – |
| Glucocorticoids, % | 0% | – | – |
| Biologic agents | |||
| TNF-inhibitor, % | 0% | – | – |
| Other, % | 0% | – | – |
| Number of caries, mean | 3 (3.85) | 4.4 (7.07) | 0.62 |
| Probing depth, mean (mm) | |||
| Shallow sites (PD ≤ 3 mm) | 2.58 | 2.08 | 0.02 |
| Deep sites (PD ≥ 4 mm) $ | 4.00 | 3.65 | 0.47 |
| Global PD status | |||
| Healthy, % | 12.5% | 0% | 0.54 |
| Periodontitis stage I, % | 37.5% | 40% | |
| Periodontitis stage II, % | 12.5% | 40% | |
| Periodontitis stage III, % | 37.5% | 20% | |
RF, rheumatoid factor; ACPA, anti-cyclic citrullinated protein antibody; ESR, erythrocyte sedimentation rate; CRP, C-reactive protein; RAPID3, routine assessment of patient index data 3; DMARD, disease modifying antirheumatic drug; TNF, tumor necrosis factor; PD, periodontal disease. Periodontitis stages are described elsewhere [8, 28]
*Age and pocket depth were compared using Student’s t-test. All other parameters were compared using Fisher’s Exact test. P-value in race was calculated with Caucasian vs. non-Caucasian data. Standard deviation is shown in parentheses
+Race was self-reported
$Probing depths were averaged measurements from the facial and/or lingual sites from which subgingival samples were collected