Aberrant splicing of the hRasGRP4 transcript and decreased levels of this signaling protein in the peripheral blood mononuclear cells in a subset of patients with rheumatoid arthritis

Table 2 Comparison of the clinical features between RA patients with hRasGRP4 variant 6 and those without

	variant 6 (-)	variant 6 (+)	P-value
Age (years)	62.6 ± 6.2	61.4 ± 11.2	0.96*
Male/female	0/10	6/7	0.012^†
DAS28(ESR4)	3.8 ± 1.2	3.4 ± 1.85	0.31*
MMP-3	307 ± 127	148 ± 109	0.057
Disease duration (months) {mean (range)}	100 (0 to 492)	143 (0 to 504)	0.58*
Patients on therapy	4	8
Patients on no therapy	2	3	0.77^†

The P-values in the first four rows (*) were calculated using Mann-Whitney's U-test; the P-values (^†) were calculated by chi-square test with Yates' correction. DAS28, The Disease Activity Score in 28 joints; MMP, matrix metalloproteinase; RA, rheumatoid arthritis

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