Arterial stiffness is not increased in patients with short duration rheumatoid arthritis and ankylosing spondylitis

Figures & data

Table 1. Characteristic of the patients in the study.

	RA patients (n = 26)	AS patients (n = 45)	Control group (n = 29)	p Value	Age,sex-adjustedp value
Age (years)	40 ± 9.7	33 ± 6.6	32 ± 7.6	<.001^a^,^b	n/a
Female gender (No, %)	21 (80.7)	6 (13.3)	13 (44.8)	<.001*	n/a
Positive family history of CVD (%)	14 (56)	10 (22.2)	20 (20.7)	.005*	n/a
Duration of symptoms (years)	1 (0.33–1.83)	6 (4–10)	n/a	<.001*	n/a
Steroids (No, %)	10 (38)	2 (5)	0	<.001*	n/a
NSAID (No, %)	16 (62)	36 (92)	0	<.001*	n/a
BMI (kg/m^2)	23 ± 4	24.5 ± 3	23.35 ± 2.6	.15	n/a
WHR	0.8 ± 0.05	0.9 ± 0.07	0.81 ± 0.08	.002^c	.37
Smoking (No, %)	10 (40.0)	13 (28.9)	5 (17.2)	.18*	n/a
SBP (mmHg)	120 ± 17	121 ± 9	115 ± 13	.11^c	n/a
DBP (mmHg)	80 (76–80)	80 (70–80)	80 (74–80)	.30	n/a
Total cholesterol (mmol/L)	5.1 ± 1.2	5 ± 1.2	5.04 ± 0.74	.92	n/a
LDL-C (mmol/L)	3.1 ± 0.9	3.2 ± 1	2.86 ± 0.8	.36	n/a
HDL-C (mmol/L)	1.5 (1.2–1.9)	1.3 (1.2–1.4)	1.7 (1.4–1.9)	.002^c	.02^c
Triglicerides (mmol/L)	0.8 (0.7–1.3)	0.9 (0.6–1.1)	0.8 (0.6–1.3)	.97	n/a
HbA1c %	5.5 ± 0.3	5.6 ± 0.4	5.3 ± 0.42	.007^c	.03^c
Glucose (mmol/L)	4.6 ± 0.4	4.6 ± 0.6	4.73 ± 0.46	.67	n/a
Creatinine (μmol/L)	58.8 ± 10	65.6 ± 13.4	69.8 ± 9.67	.003^b	.02^a^,^b

Values are presented as medians (IQR: interquartile range), means (SD). Statistically significant differences between groups are denoted:

^a RA patients versus AS patients;

^b RA patients versus control group;

^c AS patients versus control group.

* Chi square for table.

n/a: not applicable; LDL-C: low-density cholesterol; HDL-C: high-density cholesterol; HbA1c: glycosylated haemoglobin; SBP: systolic blood pressure; DBP: diastolic blood pressure.

Figure 1. Blood pressure and arterial stiffness in RA and AS patients and in the control group. A. Blood pressure and mean arterial pressure (mmHg); B. Central blood pressure and central pulse pressure (mmHg); C. Pulse wave velocity (m/s); D. Aortic pulse wave augmentation (AG); E. AIx augmentation indexes. There were no statistically significant differences between the groups after age and sex standardization (p > .05).

Table 2. Inflammatory markers in RA and AS patients and in the control group.

	RA patients (n = 26)	AS patients (n = 45)	Control group (n = 29)	p Value	Age, sex adjusted p value
ESR (mm/h)	28 (16–50)	18 (8–36)	5 (2–10)	<.001^b^,^c	<.001^b^,^c
hsCRP (mg/L)	2.8 (1.6–14.2)	4.72 (2.5–15.9)	0.66 (0.32–1.09)	<.001^b^,^c	.01^b^,^c
IL-6 (pg/ml)	4.7 (1.2–11.9)	3.23 (1.8–5.6)	0.76 (0.58–1)	<.001^b^,^c	<.001^b^,^c
IL-18 (pg/ml)	435.8 (325.9–530)	407.1 (326.4–508.8)	429.1 (35.,6–461.4)	.66	n/a
TNF-α (pg/ml)	2.2 (1.7–2.8)	1.8 (1.6–2.1)	1.5 (1.3–1.8)	<.001^b^,^c	.27
Fibrinogen (g/L)	3.5 (2.7–5.1)	4.1 (3.4–5.2)	3.1 (2.4–3.5)	<.001^b^,^c	<.001^b^,^c
sICAM (ng/ml)	156.5 (118.7–220.4)	251.3 (226.9–229.6)	204.9 (186.1–231.8)	<.001^a^,^c	.005^a^,^c
sVCAM (ng/ml)	682.9 (601.5–851.8)	586.8 (500.3–657.8)	558.74 (520.7–678.8)	.002^a^,^b	.03^a^,^b
E-selectin (ng/ml)	15.3 (11.3–20)	13.7 (10.4–16.9)	10.1 (7–16.6)	.04^b	.15
vWF (%)	102 (75–128)	66 (54.2–82.2)	74 (54–94)	<.001^a^,^b	.002^a^,^b
tPA (ng/ml)	7.2 (5.3–9.7)	7.6 (5.9–11.1)	5.59 (4.43–9.98)	.16	n/a
PTX-3 (ng/ml)	0.7 (0.5–0.9)	0.6 (0.5–0.8)	0.4 (0.4–0.5)	<.001^a^,^b	.003^a^,^c

Values are presented as medians (IQR: interquartile range), means (SD).

Statistically significant differences between groups are denoted:

^a RA patients versus AS patients;

^b RA patients versus control group;

^c AS patients versus control group.

n/a: not applicable; ESR: erythrocyte sedimentation rate; hsCRP: high sensitivity C-reactive protein; IL-6: interleukin-6; IL-18: interleukin-18; TNF-α: tumor necrosis factor α; sICAM: soluble intracellular cell adhesion molecule; sVCAM: soluble vascular cell adhesion molecule; vWF: von Willebrand factor; tPA: tissue plasminogen activator; PTX-3: pentraxin 3.