Hormone replacement therapy in rheumatoid arthritis is associated with lower serum levels of soluble IL-6 receptor and higher insulin-like growth factor 1

Table 4 Spearman rank correlations of changes in laboratory results from baseline to 24 months in postmenopausal women with rheumatoid arthritis who were given HRT

Test	TNF-α	IL-1Ra	IL-6	sIL-6R	IGF-1	ESR	Estradiol	BMD total hip	BMD lumbar spine
Serum TNF-α (pg/ml)	–	0.303**	0.108	0.245*	-0.258*	0.310**	-0.263*	0.169	-0.132
Serum IL-1Ra (pg/ml)	0.303**	–	0.313**	0.050	-0.222	0.122	0.012	0.075	-0.126
Serum IL-6 (pg/ml)	0.108	0.313**	–	0.041	-0.061	0.421***	0.188	0.081	0.078
Serum sIL-6R (pg/ml)	0.245*	0.050	0.041	–	-0.137	0.119	-0.263*	-0.132	-0.278*
Serum IGF-1 (ng/ml)	-0.258*	-0.222	-0.061	-0.137	–	-0.250*	0.179	0.200	0.195
ESR (mm)	0.310**	0.122	0.421***	0.119	-0.250*	–	-0.079	-0.092	-0.145
Serum estradiol (pmol/l)	-0.263*	0.012	0.188	-0.263*	0.179	-0.079	–	0.491***	0.483***

*P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, ***P < 0.001. BMD = bone mineral density; ESR = erythrocyte sedimentation rate; IGF-1 = insulin-like growth factor 1; IL-1Ra = IL-1-receptor antagonist; sIL-6R = soluble IL-6 receptor; TNF-α = tumor necrosis factor α.

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