Table 4.
Correlations of the biomarkers with clinical variables in patients with axSpA
| Age | Body mass index | CRP | Symptom duration | Pain VAS | Global VAS | BASDAI | BASFI | BASMI | SPARCC MRI SI joint inflammation score (0–48) | SSS fat lesion score (scale 0–40) | SSS erosion score (scale 0–40) | SSS backfill score (scale 0–20) | SSS ankylosis score (scale 0–20) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C1M | − 0.04 | − 0.19 | 0.93§ | 0.20 | 0.20 | 0.12 | 0.12 | 0.23 | 0.28 | 0.23 | 0.00 | 0.07 | 0.17 | 0.25 |
| C2M | 0.04 | − 0.05 | 0.18 | 0.08 | 0.04 | 0.04 | 0.04 | 0.23 | 0.12 | − 0.21 | 0.00 | − 0.28 | 0.12 | 0.06 |
| T2CM | 0.09 | − 0.05 | − 0.08 | 0.21 | − 0.13 | − 0.07 | 0.03 | 0.11 | 0.06 | − 0.17 | 0.03 | 0.05 | 0.35† | 0.09 |
| C3M | 0.06 | − 0.12 | 0.56§ | 0.34† | 0.10 | 0.05 | 0.04 | 0.08 | 0.05 | 0.26 | 0.14 | 0.21 | 0.21 | 0.42‡ |
| C4M | 0.03 | − 0.11 | 0.51§ | 0.15 | 0.16 | 0.10 | 0.03 | − 0.06 | 0.08 | 0.19 | 0.24 | 0.10 | 0.14 | 0.43‡ |
| C6M | 0.05 | − 0.04 | 0.72§ | 0.29 | 0.07 | 0.13 | 0.03 | 0.21 | 0.40‡ | 0.09 | 0.04 | − 0.04 | 0.13 | 0.35† |
| C10C | 0.25 | − 0.14 | − 0.18 | 0.16 | 0.01 | 0.01 | 0.07 | 0.07 | − 0.10 | − 0.32† | − 0.09 | − 0.30† | − 0.36† | − 0.29 |
| COL10NC | 0.17 | 0.02 | − 0.35† | 0.06 | − 0.09 | 0.06 | 0.13 | 0.02 | 0.19 | − 0.22 | − 0.06 | − 0.15 | 0.00 | 0.06 |
| PROM | − 0.05 | − 0.21 | 0.17 | 0.06 | 0.18 | 0.16 | 0.07 | 0.24 | 0.22 | − 0.11 | 0.18 | − 0.10 | 0.16 | 0.34† |
| VICM | 0.21 | − 0.03 | 0.47‡ | 0.15 | 0.17 | 0.17 | 0.07 | 0.17 | 0.03 | 0.20 | − 0.11 | 0.07 | 0.09 | 0.25 |
| CRPM | − 0.14 | − 0.26 | 0.44‡ | − 0.03 | 0.12 | − 0.01 | − 0.12 | 0.06 | 0.14 | 0.11 | 0.15 | − 0.11 | − 0.07 | 0.26 |
| PRO-C2 | − 0.08 | − 0.13 | 0.13 | 0.19 | − 0.19 | − 0.06 | − 0.06 | − 0.13 | 0.12 | − 0.04 | − 0.01 | 0.16 | 0.10 | 0.07 |
| PRO-C3 | − 0.54֛§ | 0.14 | − 0.21 | − 0.51§ | − 0.26 | − 0.25 | − 0.31† | − 0.28 | − 0.20 | 0.18 | − 0.09 | 0.20 | − 0.10 | − 0.29 |
| PRO-C4 | − 0.19 | − 0.03 | 0.63§ | 0.11 | 0.14 | 0.08 | 0.08 | 0.18 | 0.19 | 0.18 | 0.08 | 0.23 | 0.32† | 0.23 |
| PRO-C6 | − 0.28 | 0.03 | 0.11 | 0.09 | − 0.36† | − 0.23 | − 0.25 | − 0.08 | − 0.04 | 0.22 | − 0.21 | 0.55§ | 0.07 | − 0.18 |
| C2M/PRO-C2 | 0.08 | 0.07 | 0.14 | − 0.01 | 0.15 | 0.10 | 0.09 | 0.30 | 0.03 | − 0.06 | 0.05 | − 0.21 | 0.08 | 0.08 |
| C3M/PRO-C3 | 0.35† | − 0.16 | 0.55§ | 0.53§ | 0.26 | 0.22 | 0.24 | 0.23 | 0.14 | 0.13 | 0.20 | 0.08 | 0.22 | 0.47‡ |
| C4M/PRO-C4 | 0.07 | − 0.13 | 0.28 | 0.11 | 0.11 | 0.07 | − 0.04 | − 0.14 | 0.01 | 0.14 | 0.17 | 0.05 | 0.00 | 0.34† |
| C6M/PRO-C6 | 0.26 | − 0.02 | 0.49‡ | 0.14 | 0.35† | 0.25 | 0.21 | 0.22 | 0.37† | − 0.06 | 0.12 | − 0.39† | 0.04 | 0.37† |
Spearman’s correlation between serological metabolites and clinical scores were performed. Spearman’s rho (ρ) is shown. The bold ρ determine the most relevant correlations (ρ > 0.3 and ρ < − 0.3). Significance of correlations are shown as †p< 0.05, ‡p< 0.01, and §p< 0.001
Abbreviations: C1M metalloproteinase (MMP)-degraded type I collagen, C3M MMP-degraded type III collagen, C4M MMP-degraded type IV collagen, C6M MMP-degraded type VI collagen, PRO-C3 pro-peptide of type III collagen, PRO-C4 pro-peptide of type IV collagen, VICM citrullinated and MMP-degraded vimentin, CRPM C-reactive protein metabolite, SPARCC Spondyloarthritis Research Consortium of Canada, BASDAI Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease Activity Index (scale 0–10), BASFI Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Functional Index (scale 0–10), BASMI Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Metrology Index (scale 0–10), SSS SI joint structural score, SJC swollen joint count, TJC tender joint count