Frequency of circulating topoisomerase-I-specific CD4 T cells predicts presence and progression of interstitial lung disease in scleroderma

Table 1 Patient demographics and clinical characteristics

Variables	SSc Patients	Topo-I negative (N = 12)	Topo-I positive (N = 15)	P value^§
Age (years)^*	51.3 ± 9.6	55.1 ± 7.4	48.2 ± 10.3	.093
Female	21 (78)	9 (75)	12 (80)	.557
Race
White	22 (81)	9 (75)	13 (87)	.338
Black	5 (19)	3 (25)	2 (13)	.338
Smoking status
Never	16 (62)	9 (82)	7 (47)	.174
Past	1 (4)	0 (0)	1 (7)
Current	9 (34)	2 (18)	7 (47)
Diffuse SSc skin type	15 (56)	5 (42)	10 (67)	.182
mRSS^* (range 0–51)	7 ± 8	5 ± 9	9 ± 7	.037
SSc duration
RP onset^*, years	11.1 ± 7.8	11.2 ± 7.3	10.9 ± 8.5	.516
1st non-RP symptom^*, years	10.2 ± 7.1	11.0 ± 7.2	9.6 ± 7.3	.792
Lung severity score^* (range 0–4)	1.2 ± 1.3	0.9 ± 1.5	1.5 ± 1.1	.168
FVC^* (% predicted)	77.9 ± 14.7	81.4 ± 19.8	77.07 ± 11.1	.106
DLCO^* (% predicted)	75.3 ± 16.6	83.8 ± 15.7	71.3 ± 17.3	.051
ILD^†	11 (46)	1 (10)	10 (71)	.005
eRVSP^*	28.8 ± 12.5	32.5 ± 17.5	25.9 ± 5.9	.522
Autoantibody status
ACA	3 (11)	3 (25)	0 (0)	.075
Anti-RNA-polymerase III	5 (21)	3 (25)	1 (8)	.295
Immunosuppression (current)^‡	11 (41)	4 (33)	7 (47)	.381

All values are given as number (%) unless otherwise specified. Frequencies (%) are calculated based on available data. SSc disease duration was calculated at the time of serum sampling from the onset of RP or from the first non-RP symptom. Lung severity score is reported as previously defined by Medsger et al. [29]
ACA anticentromere antibody, DLCO, diffusion capacity of lung for carbon monoxide, eRVSP right ventricular systolic pressure estimated by echocardiography, FVC forced vital capacity, ILD interstitial restrictive lung disease, mRSS modified Rodnan skin score, RP Raynaud’s phenomenon, SSc systemic sclerosis
^*Mean ± SD
^†The presence of ILD was defined by presence of fibrosis on computed tomography of the chest (CT chest was available in 10 topo-I-negative and 14 topo-I-positive subjects)
^‡Use of immunosuppressants includes cyclophosphamide, mycophenolate, methotrexate, or prednisone
^§ P values were determined by Fisher’s exact test, Pearson chi-square, or the Wilcoxon rank-sum test, as appropriate

ISSN: 1478-6362