Identification of a cytokine network sustaining neutrophil and Th17 activation in untreated early rheumatoid arthritis

Table 1 Clinical information about healthy controls and patients with VERA, VEA, RA, or OA

	Controls (n= 24)	VERA (n= 19)			VEA (n= 19)	RA (n= 12)	RA SF (n= 15)	OA SF (n= 10)
		Baseline	Time 1	Time 2
Age in years, mean ± SD	40 ± 13	50 ± 17			40 ± 13	63 ± 10	57 ± 10	67 ± 13
Sex, female/male	17/7	16/3			15/4	11/1	11/4	5/5
DAS28, mean ± SD	NA	6.1 ± 1.8	4.1 ± 1.6^a	3.1 ± 1.6^a	4.5 ± 1.6^a	5.2 ± 1.0	4.6 ± 1.4	NA
HAQ, mean ± SD	NA	1.4 ± 0.8	0.8 ± 0.7^a	0.8 ± 0.7	0.8 ± 0.6^a	1.5 ± 1.0	1.4 ± 0.8	NA
RF-positive, %	ND	42	ND	ND	0	67	ND	ND
Anti-CCP-positive, %	ND	32	ND	ND	0	45	ND	ND

^aDisease activity score using 28 joint counts (DAS28) and health assessment questionnaire (HAQ) values were compared between very early rheumatoid arthritis (VERA) and very early arthritis (VEA) patients with reference to VERA baseline values. Differences were considered statistically significant for P values of less than 0.05. anti-CCP, anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide; IL, interleukin; MTX, methotrexate; NA, not applicable; ND, not determined; OA, osteoarthritis; RA, rheumatoid arthritis; RF, rheumatoid factor; SD, standard deviation; SF, synovial fluid.

ISSN: 1478-6362