Table 1 Baseline characteristics, cardiovascular drug use, metabolic risk factors, surrogate markers of enhanced early atherogenesis and adiponectin variables in African black and white patients with rheumatoid arthritis

Baseline characteristic

 Age, years

55.8 (10.2)

58.6 (10.9)

0.06

 Female (%)

89.1

76.7

0.02

 Smoking

3.4

11.1

0.04

 Body mass index, kg/m²

29.3 (6.6)

25.7 (4.7)

<0.0001

 Waist circumference, cm

93.3 (13.4)

90.2 (12.7)

0.08

 Waist-hip ratio

0.85 (0.80 to 0.90)

0.87 (0.82 to 0.93)

0.03

 RA duration, years

12.8 (9.2)

14.1 (9.3)

0.3

 Rheumatoid factor positive (%)

77.3

76.4

0.8

 DAS28

4.2 (1.3)

3.6 (1.6)

0.007

 C-reactive protein, mg/ml

7.0 (4.0 to 14.5)

4.1 (1.9 to 11.8)

0.007

 Glomerular filtration rate, ml/min/1.73 m² Conventional disease modifying agents use

105 (1)

89 (1)

0.0001

  Any (%)

100

100

1.0

  Number

2.5 (1.0)

2.2 (0.09)

0.02

  Methotrexate (%)

90.8

79.1

0.02

  Chloroquine (%)

79.8

55.0

0.0002

  Leflunomide (%)

20.2

38.5

0.004

  Sulphasalazine (%)

24.1

12.1

0.03

  Azathioprine (%)

16.8

11.0

0.2

  Tetracycline (%)

10.1

13.2

0.5

  Cyclophosphamide (%)

5.9

1.1

0.1

  Penicillamine (%)

4.2

2.2

0.4

 Tumor necrosis-α inhibitor (%)

0.0

8.8

…

 Rituximab (%)

0.0

1.5

…

 Prednisone (%)

1.7

3.3

0.5

Cardiovascular drug use

 Antihypertensive agents (%)

54.6

44.4

0.2

 Oral glucose lowering agents (%)

13.5

4.4

0.04

 Insulin (%)

0.8

2.2

0.4

 Statin (%)

19.4

38.9

0.002

 Ezetimibe (%)

0.0

2.2

…

Metabolic risk factors

 Hypertension (%)

72.3

49.5

0.0008

 Systolic blood pressure, mmHG

140 (25)

130 (17)

0.0004

 Diastolic blood pressure, mmHG

86 (15)

80 (9)

0.0005

 Mean blood pressure, mmHg

104 (17)

113 (13)

0.0002

 Cholesterol-HDL cholesterol ration >4 (%)

21.7

14.8

0.2

 Total cholesterol, mmol/l

4.7 (0.9)

5.1 (1.1)

0.004

 HDL cholesterol, mmol/l

1.5 (1.3 to 1.8)

1.6 (1.3 to 2.0)

0.07

 Cholesterol-HDL cholesterol ratio

3.2 (1.1)

3.2 (1.0)

0.80

 LDL cholesterol, mmol/l

2.6 (0.8)

2.8 (0.9)

0.03

 Non HDL cholesterol, mmol/l

3.1 (0.9)

3.4 (1.0)

0.05

 Triglycerides, mmol/l

1.0 (0.7 to 1.3)

1.0 (0.9 to 1.4)

0.4

 Triglycerides-HDL cholesterol ratio

0.67 (0.46 to 1.10)

0.64 (0.46 to 0.93)

0.6

 Diabetes (%)

16.0

7.8

0.08

 Glucose, mmol/l

4.9 (4.5 to 5.4)

4.7 (4.4 to 5.1)

0.1

 Metabolic risk factors, number*

1.4 (0.9)

1.0 (0.8)

0.005

Endothelial activation

 E-selectin, ng/ml

42.23 (19.78)

36.05 (17.20)

0.02

 VCAM-1, ng/ml

841.84 (696.33 to 1071.75)

791.01 (641.33 to 1033.44)

0.3

 ICAM-1, ng/ml

238.10 (170.92 to 314.52)

309.19 (256.51 to 384.74)

<0.0001

 MCP-1, pg/ml

349.31 (224.75 to 665.07)

460.12 (329.71 to 681.86)

0.01

 Endothelial activation score

-0.25 (2.35)

0.32 (2.35)

0.09

Adiponectin variables

 Total adiponectin, ng/ml

7.41 (4.62 to 11.56)

7.25 (5.31 to 12.83)

0.4

 HMW adiponectin, ng/ml

2.65 (1.54 to 5.53)

3.82 (2.10 to 6.00)

0.05

 HMW-total adiponectin ratio

0.44 (0.20)

0.50 (0.27)

0.07