Enhanced IL-6/phosphorylated STAT3 signaling is related to the imbalance of circulating T follicular helper/T follicular regulatory cells in patients with rheumatoid arthritis

Table 1 Characteristics of the patients with RA and the healthy controls

Characteristics	Active RA (n = 20)	Inactive RA (n = 24)	HCs (n = 20)	P value
Age (years)^a	46 (38–57)	47 (40–53)	48 (39–55)	> 0.05
Female (n (%))	16 (80.0)	18 (75.0)	15 (75.0)	> 0.05
Symptom duration (months)^a	10 (5–60)	15 (8–70)	ND	0.015^b
Swollen joint count (out of 28)^a	5 (3–8)	2 (1–5)	ND	0.039^b
Tender joint count (out of 28)^a	6 (2–9)	4 (1–7)	ND	0.027^b
CRP (mg/L)^a	6.5 (2.1–13.8)	4.0 (1.4–9.2)	ND	0.031^b
DAS28-CRP (3)^a	4.2 (3.5–5.6)	1.8 (1.0–2.8)	ND	0.001^b
ACPA (IU/ml)^a	451.9 (222.2–1208.0)	129.6 (6.0–322.6)	ND	0.006^b
RF (IU/ml)^a	132.0 (30.73–267.3)	23.8 (19.0–75.1)	ND	0.027^b
ACPA ≥ 17 IU/ml (n (%))	18 (90.0)	17 (70.8)	ND	> 0.05^b
RF ≥ 20 IU/ml (n (%))	15 (75.0)	17 (70.8)	ND	> 0.05^b
ACPA ≥ 17 IU/ml + RF ≥ 20 IU/ml (n (%))	14 (70.0)	16 (66.7)	ND	> 0.05^b
ACPA ≤ 17 IU/ml + RF ≤ 20 IU/ml (n (%))	3 (15.0)	4 (16.7)	ND	> 0.05^b

RA rheumatoid arthritis, HC healthy controls, CRP C-reactive protein, DAS28 Disease Activity Score 28, ACPA anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide antibody, RF rheumatoid factor, ND not determined
^aData are presented as median (IQR)
^bPatients with active RA vs. patients with inactive RA, Mann–Whitney U test

ISSN: 1478-6362