Figure 2. Changes in cytokines and their correlation with heart rate‐corrected PR‐interval (PRc‐interval) in patients with inflammatory diseases, during active disease (PRE) and after therapeutic interventions resulting in CRP decrease >75% when compared with the baseline (POST), and controls (C).
A, Comparison of interleukin‐6 (IL‐6) levels in patients with inflammatory diseases, in PRE and POST conditions, and controls; two‐tail Dunnett’s test, ***P<0.001, n.s. not significant. B, Relationship between PRc‐interval and IL‐6 levels; Spearman test; C, Comparison of interleukin‐1 (IL‐1) levels in patients with inflammatory diseases, in PRE and POST conditions, and controls; two‐tail Wilcoxon matched‐pairs test, *P<0.05; two‐tail Dunnett’s test, n.s. not significant. D, Relationship between PRc‐interval and IL‐1 levels; Spearman test. Patients, n=46; controls, n=30. Horizontal dotted line indicates the upper limit values in a reference healthy population, ie, 1.25 pg/mL for IL‐6, and 0.29 pg/mL for IL‐1.