Table 2.

Comparison of markers of disease activity and serum levels of selected cytokines between axial spondyloarthritis patients with and without inflammatory bowel disease (p¹) and between axial spondyloarthritis patients with inflammatory bowel disease and healthy controls (p²)

Assessed Parameter	Patients with axSpA and IBD Mean ± SD Median (Q1, Q3)	Patients with axSpA without IBD Mean ± SD Median (Q1, Q3)	P1	Healthy Controls Mean ± SD Median (Q1, Q3)	P2
VAS pain, mm	64.2 ± 26.3	55.1 ± 26.6	0.08*	0.0	–
BASDAI	5.7 ± 2.9	5.3 ± 2.5	0.2*	0.0	-
ASDAS-ESR	3.1 (2.2, 4.1)	2.4 (1.8, 3.2)	0.06**	0.0	–
CRP (mg/l)	17.2 (2.1, 80.0)	7.3 (2.8, 16.2)	0.05**	0.0	–
ESR (mm/h)	28.0 (11.0, 58.0)	14.0 (6.0, 32.0)	0.005**	9.0 (2.0, 16.0)	0.0008**
IL-6 (pg/ml)	2.7 (1.5, 5.6)	4.1 (1.8, 7.9)	0.2**	1.15 (0.6, 1.5)	0.01**
IL-18 (pg/ml)	357.3 (166.7, 402.7)	251.8 (207.7, 375.1)	0.4**	198.9 (165.1, 271.5)	0.005**
IL-23(pg/ml)	0.0 (0.0, 0.3)	0.3 (0.0, 2.8)	0.2**	0.0 (0.0, 0.0)	0.2**
VEGF (pg/ml)	386.5 (332.7, 570.0)	396.1 (220.0, 680.0)	0.2**	270.0 (180.0, 445.0)	0.2**
EGF (pg/ml)	66.0 (40.0, 122.0)	128.0 (86.0, 220.0)	0.2**	81. 0 (38.0, 134.0)	0.2**
ADMA (nmol/ml)	13.39 ± 2.2	14.7 ± 4.5	0.2*	9.53 ± 4.08	0.01*
ET-1 (pg/ml)	1.40 ± 0.51	1.10 ± 0.35	0.02*	1.47 ± 0.57	0.3*
Fetuin-A (µg/ml)	527.2 ± 195.8	608.7 ± 143.1	0.08*	709.1 ± 169.3	0.01*

ADMA asymmetric dimethylarginine, ASDAS-ESR Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease Activity Score, axSpA axial spondyloarthritis, BASDAI Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease Activity Index, EGF, CRP C-reactive protein; epidermal growth factor, ESR erythrocyte sedimentation rate, ET-1 endothelin-1, IBD inflammatory bowel disease, IL-6 interleukin-6, IL-18 interleukin-18, IL-23 interleukin-23, VAS pain visual analogue scale of patient’s pain, VEGF vascular endothelial growth factor

Statistical analysis: *Student's t test, ** Mann–Whitney U test