Fig. 2

Serum RANKL and ACPA associate with bone destruction. Graphs show the results of ELISA measurement of total serum RANKL concentrations in RF-negative RA patients grouped by bone erosion status (a). ACPA-positive and anti-cit-vim-positive patients observed higher prevalence of bone destructions than ACPA-negative or anti-cit-vim-negative patients in both early RA cohorts (b). Horizontal lines represent median values, ^* p <0.05; ns: p >0.05. VC denotes validation cohort. ACPA anti-citrullinated protein antibodies, cit citrullinated, ELISA enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, RA rheumatoid arthritis, RANKL receptor activator of nuclear factor kappa B ligand, RF rheumatoid factor, vim vimentin