Table 1.
Clinical details of the patients with rheumatoid arthritis and healthy donors recruited to the study
| Rheumatoid arthritis (n=72) |
Healthy donors (n=29) |
P value | |
| Clinical parameters | |||
| Female/male, n/n | 46/26 | 17/12 | 0.096 |
| Age, years | 54.0±11.7 | 50.2±10.2 | 0.078 |
| Evolution time, years | 7.4±7.5 | – | |
| DAS28 | 3.2±1.4 | – | |
| Rheumatoid factor positivity, n/n (%) | 47/72 (65) | 0/29 (0) | <0.001* |
| Anti-CCPs antibodies positivity, n/n (%) | 61/72 (85) | 1/29 (3) | <0.001* |
| Pathological CIMT, n/n (%) | 27/72 (38) | 0/29 (0) | |
| Obesity, n/n (%) | 12/72 (17) | 3/29 (12) | 0.846 |
| Diabetes mellitus, n/n (%) | 0/72 (0) | 0/29 (0) | |
| BMI (kg/m2) | 26.3±5.1 | 24.2±3.7 | 0.115 |
| Hypertension, n/n (%) | 18/72 (25) | 0/29 (0) | |
| Menopause, n/n (%) | 28/72 (40) | 0/29 (0) | |
| Smoker, n/n (%) | 18/72 (25) | 5/29 (19) | 0.500 |
| Radiological involvement, n/n (%) | 28/72 (38) | 0/29 (0) | |
| Laboratory parameters | |||
| Total cholesterol, mg/dL | 202.6±39.3 | 193.0±41.0 | 0.155 |
| HDL-cholesterol, mg/dL | 54.24±17.9 | 54.0±22.0 | 0.348 |
| LDL-cholesterol, mg/dL | 126.8±33.0 | 127.0±31.0 | 0.607 |
| Apolipoprotein A, mg/dL | 151.2±31.3 | 147.1±28.1 | 0.553 |
| Apolipoprotein B, mg/dL | 84.1±19.5 | 84.9±26.9 | 0.537 |
| Triglycerides, mg/dL | 106.3±52.2 | 73.0±29.0 | 0.101 |
| CRP, mg/dL | 10.4±14.8 | 0.8±0.975 | <0.001* |
| ESR, mm/hour | 11.3±14.6 | 7.3±4.7 | 0.070 |
| Treatments | |||
| Corticosteroids, n/n (%) | 42/72 (58) | 0/29 (0) | |
| Antimalarials, n/n (%) | 19/72 (26) | 0/29 (0) | |
| NSAIDs, n/n (%) | 58/72 (80) | 0/29 (0) | |
| Methotrexate, n/n (%) | 41/72 (57) | 0/29 (0) | |
| Leflunomide, n/n (%) | 18/72 (25) | 0/29 (0) | |
| Vitamin D, n/n (%) | 15/72 (22) | 0/29 (0) |
*Denotes significant changes, P<0,001.
Anti-CCP, anti cyclic citrullinated protein; BMI, Body Mass Index; CIMT, carotid intima media thickness; CRP, C-reactive protein; DAS28, Disease activity score-28; ESR, erythrocyte sedimentation rate; HDL, high density lipoproteins; LDL, low density lipoproteins; NSAIDs, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs.