Figure 2

Relative miRNA levels at start (T1) and after six months of anti-TNFα/DMARDs combination therapy (T2) in the validation cohort (n = 85). To validate the PCR array data, ten miRNAs differentially expressed were selected (hsa-miR-125b, hsa-miR-23a-3p, hsa-miR-21-5p, hsa-miR-126-3p, hsa-miR-146a-5p, hsa-let-7a-5p, hsa-miR-16-5p, hsa-miR-124a-3p, hsa-miR-155-5p, and hsa-miR-223). (A) Relative expression levels of each miRNA are shown. Boxes indicate the interval between the 25^th and 75^th percentiles and horizontal bars inside boxes indicate median. Whiskers indicate the interval of data within 1.5 × interquartile ranges (IQR). Closed circles indicate data points outside 1.5 x IQR. ^* P <0.05. (B) Comparison of relative change of miRNA levels between responders and non-responders groups for the six miRNAs found significantly altered after therapy in the validation cohort.^* P <0.05. DMARDs, disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs; miRNAs, microRNAs; TNFα, tumor necrosis factor alpha.