Remarkable efficacy of tocilizumab for treating rheumatoid arthritis in patients with high platelet counts

Figures & data

Table 1. Baseline characteristics of patients which are divided according to platelet count, hemoglobin level or ΔTSS.

	Platelet count		P	Hemoglobin level		P	Bone destruction		P
	< 400 000	≧ 400 000		Normal	Low		ΔTSS ≧ 50	ΔTSS < 50
Number of patients	64	23		40	47		27	60
Age (years)	63.97 ± 11.85	59.00 ± 13.58	0.1363	59.90 ± 10.56	61.30 ± 13.95	0.6000	61.11 ± 10.69	59.00 ± 13.22	0.4394
Diease duration	10.06 ± 10.83	8.26 ± 10.31	0.4911	8.63 ± 10.27	10.83 ± 11.29	0.3469	1.43 ± 1.51	13.59 ± 11.1	0.0002*
ΔTSS	39.49 ± 45.21	51.78 ± 54.00	0.2929	44.73 ± 47.94	40.38 ± 47.68	0.6739	101.56 ± 44.13	15.75 ± 10.79	< 0.0001*
CRP (mg/dL)	1.39 ± 2.10	6.36 ± 4.96	< 0.0001*	1.36 ± 1.64	3.82 ± 4.66	0.0021*	3.34 ± 4.45	2.37 ± 3.45	0.2873
Hb (g/dL)	12.36 ± 1.59	11.15 ± 1.66	0.0027*	13.43 ± 1.19	10.87 ± 1.02	< 0.0001*	12.01 ± 1.45	12.06 ± 1.80	0.9081
Plt (x 10^3/μL)	281.79 ± 64.87	479.57 ± 70.00	< 0.0001*	299.03 ± 90.81	364.19 ± 115.72	0.005*	357.48 ± 124.25	324.25 ± 102.21	0.1852
MMP-3 (ng/mL)	187.52 ± 178.43	309.1 ± 234.29	0.0124*	160.86 ± 138.38	266.82 ± 230.82	0.0138*	258.73 ± 238.64	201.45 ± 181.07	0.2258
DAS28-ESR	4.71 ± 1.23	5.69 ± 1.42	0.0022*	4.58 ± 1.21	5.30 ± 1.37	0.012*	5.24 ± 1.36	4.85 ± 1.33	0.2258
TJC	5.20 ± 5.92	7.35 ± 6.50	0.1520	5.48 ± 6.25	6.08 ± 6.00	0.6440	7.04 ± 7.28	5.25 ± 5.44	0.2071
SJC	7.65 ± 6.04	11.52 ± 5.89	0.0096*	7.63 ± 5.87	9.57 ± 6.33	0.1429	8.37 ± 6.54	8.81 ± 6.04	0.7570
VAS (mm)	35.73 ± 23.85	43.83 ± 24.06	0.1682	34.55 ± 23.52	41.00 ± 24.13	0.2122	42.59 ± 26.6	35.98 ± 22.57	0.2356
ESR (mm/hr)	39.97 ± 27.31	68.83 ± 37.11	0.0002*	33.05 ± 22.91	59.34 ± 35.07	0.0001*	53.04 ± 32.95	44.65 ± 32.53	0.2710
MTX dose (mg/week)	8.95 ± 3.04	9.67 ± 2.87	0.3200	9.07 ± 2.97	9.13 ± 2.88	0.9338	9.43 ± 2.82	8.95 ± 2.93	0.4736

Background variables were statistically analyzed using the unpaired t-test. Results of statistical analysis of each were represented by p-value.

**statistically significant (P < 0.05).

Table 2. CDAI at baseline and after treatment of patients which are divided according to platelet count, hemoglobin level or ΔTSS.

	Platelet count		Hemoglobin level		Bone destruction
	< 400 000	≧ 400 000	Normal	Low	ΔTSS ≧ 50	ΔTSS < 50
Baseline	23.1	31.3	22.7	26.8	26.8	24.3
After treatment	15.0	15.4	14.0	15.4	13.3	15.7
P	< 0.0001	< 0.0001	0.0002	< 0.0001	< 0.0001	< 0.0001

CDAI was analyzed using the paired t-test. Results of statistical analysis of each were represented by p-value. TSS: modified sharp Heidji score.

Table 3. Changes in DAS28-ESR and CDAI from baseline of patients which were divided according to platelet count, hemoglobin level or ΔTSS.

Classification criteria	Platelet count		P	Hemoglobin level		P	ΔTSS		P
	< 400 000	≧ 400 000		Low	Normal		< 50	≧ 50
ΔDAS28-ESR	− 1.86	− 2.61	0.029	− 1.85	− 2.2	N.S	− 1.91	− 2.32	N.S
ΔCDAI	− 8.09	− 15.91	0.028	− 8.68	− 11.43	N.S	− 8.65	− 13.52	N.S

ΔDAS28-ESR and ΔCDAI were analyzed using the unpaired t-test. Results of statistical analysis of each were represented by p-value. TSS: modified sharp Heidji score.

Figure 1. Proportion of patients in each disease activity (patients divided according to platelet count). Figure in left represents the result of patients with high platelet counts in baseline (< 400 000). Figure in right represents the result of patients with normal platelet counts in baseline (≦ 400 000). Numbers in the table below each bar charts represent percentage of patients in each disease activity. Patients are graded into four group according to DAS28-ESR, DAS28-ESR > 5.1, 3.2 ≦ DAS28-ESR ≦ 5.1, 2.6 ≦ DAS28-ESR < 3.2, DAS28-ESR < 2.6. Percentages of patients with each state of disease activity after the treatment is significantly changed form before the treatment (P < 0.0001).

Figure 2. Proportion of patients in each disease activity (patients divided according to hemoglobin level). Figure in left represents the result of patients with normal hemoglobin level in baseline. Figure in right represents the result of patients with low hemoglobin level in baseline. Numbers in the table below each bar charts represent percentage of patients in each disease activity. Patients are graded into four group according to DAS28-ESR, DAS28-ESR > 5.1, 3.2 ≦ DAS28-ESR ≦ 5.1, 2.6 ≦ DAS28-ESR < 3.2, DAS28-ESR < 2.6. Percentages of patients with each state of disease activity after the treatment is significantly changed form before the treatment (P < 0.0001).

Figure 3. Proportion of patients in each disease activity (patients divided according to ΔTSS). Figure in left represents the result of patients with rapid progression in bone destruction in baseline (ΔTSS ≧ 50). Figure in right represents the result of patients with slow progression in bone destruction in baseline (ΔTSS < 50). Numbers in the table below each bar charts represent percentage of patients in each disease activity. Patients are graded into four groups according to DAS28-ESR, DAS28-ESR > 5.1, 3.2 ≦ DAS28-ESR ≦ 5.1, 2.6 ≦ DAS28-ESR < 3.2, DAS28-ESR < 2.6. Percentages of patients with each state of disease activity after the treatment is significantly changed form before the treatment (P < 0.0001).