Skip to main content

Table 2 Univariate comparison of characteristics of patients with and without antibodies to RNA polymerase III

From: Prevalence, correlates and clinical usefulness of antibodies to RNA polymerase III in systemic sclerosis: a cross-sectional analysis of data from an Australian cohort

 

Anti-RNAP+ (n= 69)

Anti-RNAP- (n= 382)

 

Characteristic

Totala

n(%) or mean ± SD

Totala

n(%) or mean ± SD

P value

Sex

69

 

382

  

   Female

 

58 (84.1%)

 

339 (88.7%)

0.27

   Male

 

11 (15.9%)

 

42 (11.1%)

 

Race

65

 

373

  

   Caucasian

 

61 (93.9%)

 

352 (94.4%)

0.97

   Asian

 

3 (4.6%)

 

14 (3.8%)

 

   Aboriginal-Islander

 

1 (1.5%)

 

7 (1.9%)

 

Age (years)

     

   At disease onsetb

68

47.0 ± 11.7

373

46.4 ± 14.0

0.70

   At recruitment

68

56.0 ± 12.1

380

58.4 ± 12.4

0.14

Disease duration (years)

     

   At recruitment

68

9.0 ± 7.9

373

12.1 ± 10.3

0.02

   At the time of the studyc

68

11.4 ± 8.1

373

14.1 ± 10.7

0.06

Duration of follow-upc (years)

59

1.9 ± 0.9

256

1.9 ± 0.8

0.97

Disease subtyped

69

 

382

  

   Limited

 

17 (24.6%)

 

302 (79.1%)

< 0.0001

   Diffuse

 

52 (75.4%)

 

80 (20.9%)

 

Disease manifestationse

     

   Raynaud's phenomenon

66

66 (100%)

370

370 (100%)

1.0

   Digital ulcers

69

35 (50.7%)

382

159 (41.6%)

0.16

   Tendon friction rubs

69

8 (11.6%)

382

24 (6.3%)

0.12

   Joint contractures

69

51 (73.9%)

382

115 (30.1%)

< 0.0001

   Highest mRSS during follow-upf

68

20.6 ± 12.4

366

10.1 ± 7.9

< 0.0001

   Synovitis

69

22 (31.9%)

382

76 (19.9%)

0.03

   Myositis

69

2 (2.9%)

382

2 (0.5%)

0.05

   Renal crisisg

69

17 (24.6%)

382

7 (1.8%)

< 0.0001

   Systemic hypertensionh

69

41 (59.4%)

375

149 (39.7%)

1.0

   Gastrointestinal involvementi

69

69 (100%)

382

379 (100%)

0.75

   Pulmonary arterial hypertensionj

69

7 (10.1%)

382

42 (11.0%)

0.52

   Interstitial lung diseasek

69

19 (27.5%)

382

120 (31.4%)

0.80

   Cardiac involvementl

69

7 (10.1%)

382

24 (6.3%)

0.24

Serologic profilem

69

    

   Antinuclear antibodies

 

67 (97.1%)

382

366 (95.8%)

0.61

   Anti-centromere pattern

 

4 (5.8%)

381

193 (50.7%)

< 0.0001

   Anti-topoisomerase antibodies

 

1 (1.5%)

377

78 (20.7%)

0.0001

   Anti-histidyl-tRNA synthetase antibodies

 

0 (0%)

377

0 (0%)

1.0

   Anti-ribonucleoprotein antibodies

 

1 (1.5%)

376

3 (0.8%)

0.6

   Anti-Ro antibodies

 

3 (4.4%)

377

24 (6.4%)

0.52

   Anti-La antibodies

 

0 (0%)

377

6 (1.6%)

0.29

   Anti-Smith antibodies

44

0 (0%)

376

1 (0.3%)

0.67

   Anti-double stranded DNA antibodies

69

0 (0%)

254

6 (2.4%)

0.30

   Anti-polymyositis-scleroderma antibodies

64

0 (0%)

378

4 (1.1%)

0.39

   Anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies

64

10 (15.6%)

373

63 (16.9%)

0.80

Myeloperoxidase specificity

64

4 (16.3%)

372

8 (2.2%)

0.06

Proteinase-3 specificity

64

2 (13.1%)

372

13 (3.5%)

0.88

   Rheumatoid factor

65

8 (12.5%)

359

118 (32.9%)

0.001

   Anti-phospholipid antibodies

43

9 (13.9%)

371

129 (34.8%)

0.0008

   Lupus anticoagulant

69

0 (0%)

282

7 (12.5%)

0.30

Treatmente

69

 

382

  

   Corticosteroids

 

40 (58.0%)

 

158 (41.4%)

0.01

   Antimalarialsn

 

10 (14.5%)

 

64 (16.8%)

0.64

   Immunosuppressiveso

 

40 (58.0%)

 

103 (27.0%)

< 0.0001

   Biological therapiesp

 

1 (1.5%)

 

4 (1.1%)

0.77

Smoking ever

65

30 (46.2%)

371

153 (41.2%)

0.44

Malignancye

69

14 (13.0%)

382

50 (13.2%)

0.37

   Solid organq

 

9 (13.0%)

 

26 (6.8%)

 

   Hematopoieticr

 

0 (0%)

 

7 (1.8%)

 

   Skin (nonmelanoma)s

 

4 (5.8%)

 

9 (2.4%)

 

   Melanoma

 

1 (1.5%)

 

5 (1.3%)

 

   Othert

 

0 (0%)

 

3 (0.8%)

 

Malignancy diagnosed within 5 years of onset of SScu,v

45

6 (13.3%)

254

10 (3.9%)

0.01

Time interval between SSc onset and malignancy diagnosis (years)u

9

4.1 ± 3.1

37

11.7 ± 9.1

0.0002

Malignancy in inception cohorte,w

31

 

120

 

0.42

   Solid organq

 

4

 

6

 

   Hematopoieticr

 

0

 

1

 

   Skin (nonmelanoma)s

 

1

 

3

 

   Melanoma

 

0

 

0

 

   Othert

 

0

 

0

 
  1. anti-RNAP, anti-RNA polymerase III antibodies; mRSS, modified Rodnan skin score; n (%), number (percentage); SD, standard deviation; SSc, systemic sclerosis. aRefers to the total number of patients in whom data were available for analysis. bDisease onset defined as date of onset of first SSc-related manifestation other than Raynaud's phenomenon. cAs at 13 December 2010. dDisease subtype classified based extent of skin involvement, with limited disease being confined to extremities and face. eEver from birth to most recent visit. fScores range from 0 to 51, with higher scores indicating more severe skin involvement. gRenal crisis defined as abrupt-onset severe hypertension (systolic blood pressure (BP) ≥ 180 mmHg and/or diastolic BP ≥ 100 mmHg) without an alternate etiology, with or without microangiopathic anemia or decline in renal function. hDiastolic BP ≥ 90 mmHg or systolic BP ≥ 140 mmHg. iGastrointestinal involvement defined as one or more of reflux esophagitis, esophageal stricture or dysmotility, gastric antral vascular ectasia, bowel dysmotility or pseudo-obstruction. jPulmonary arterial hypertension defined as mean pulmonary arterial pressure ≥ 25 mmHg at rest with pulmonary capillary wedge pressure ≤ 15 mmHg. kInterstitial lung disease defined by high-resolution computerized tomography scan of the chest. lPresence of either left ventricular systolic or diastolic dysfunction where no other cause was identified, or a conduction disturbance unexplained by other mechanisms, or a characteristic histological picture on endomyocardial biopsy. mAt recruitment. nHydroxychloroquine. oIncludes methotrexate, azathioprine, mycophenolate mofetil, cyclosporine and cyclophosphamide. pIncludes TNF antagonists and rituximab. qIncludes breast, lung, colorectal, genitourinary and reproductive tract malignancies. rIncludes lymphoma, leukemia and multiple myeloma. sIncludes basal cell and squamous cell carcinomas. tIncludes neoplastic variants and pre-neoplastic disorders. uExcluding nonmelanoma skin cancers and the 'other' category; here SSc onset defined based on onset of skin change. vDenominator of 299 determined by adding the number of patients who had malignancy diagnosed within 5 years of diagnosis of SSc and all other patients in whom a diagnosis of malignancy had not been made but whose disease duration was ≥ 5 years as of 13 December 2010 (date at which data were censored for analysis). wPatients recruited within 5 years of onset of SSc skin changes.
Back to article page

Arthritis Research & Therapy

ISSN: 1478-6362

Contact us