Sex-based differences in association between circulating T cell subsets and disease activity in untreated early rheumatoid arthritis patients

Table 1 Baseline characteristics of female and male early diagnosed untreated RA patients and healthy controls

	ueRA female (n = 50)	ueRA male (n = 22)	P value	HC female (n = 18)	HC male (n = 13)
Age, yr.^a	60.5 (21–78)	56 (28–80)	0.87^c	56 (20–72)	55 (27–75)^e
Symptom duration, months^a,b	6 (2–23)	3.9 (1–21)	0.07^c
CRP, mg/L^a	9 (0.3–180)	10 (2–113)	0.29^c
ESR, mm/hour^a	28 (5–120)	22.5 (1–85)	0.33^c
SJC66^a	11.5 (3–30)	9 (2–18)	0.08^c
TJC68^a	13 (2–47)	15.5 (3–26)	0.79^c
SJC28^a	9 (2–24)	7 (2–15)	0.15^c
TJC28^a	8.5 (0–27)	9 (1–16)	0.93^c
DAS28-CRP^a	4.9 (2.7–8.3)	5.2 (3.4–6.4)	0.50^c
DAS28-ESR^a	5.3 (2.6–8.7)	5.5 (2.9–6.7)	0.83^c
CDAI^a	28.3 (10.1–68.7)	28.0 (10.5–40.6)	0.40^c
ACPA+, n (%)^f	42 (84)	17 (77)	0.52^d
RF+, n (%)^g	38 (76)	14 (64)	0.40^d
ACPA+ and RF+, n (%)^f,g	35 (70)	13 (59)	0.42^d
ACPA- and RF-, n (%)^f,g	5 (10)	4 (18)	0.44^d
Smoker (%)^h	8 (17)	3 (14)	> 0.99^d

ACPA anti-citrullinated protein/peptide antibodies, CDAI clinical disease activity index, CRP C-reactive protein, DAS28 disease activity score in 28 joints, ESR erythrocyte sedimentation rate, HC healthy controls, RF rheumatoid factor, SJC 28/66 swollen joint counts of 28/66, TJC 28/68 tender joint counts of 28/68, ueRA untreated early rheumatoid arthritis
^aMedian and range
^bRetrospective patient-reported pain in the joints before RA diagnosis
^cDifference between ueRA female patients and ueRA male patients, Mann-Whitney U test
^dDifference between ueRA female patients and ueRA male patients, Fisher’s exact test
^eDifference between HC female age and HC male age, P = 0.53, Mann-Whitney U test
^fPatients with ACPA levels ≥20 IU/ml are considered ACPA+
^gPatients with RF levels ≥20 IU/ml are considered RF+
^hCurrent daily smoker (data available in n_female = 47, n_male = 22)

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