The Role of Simvastatin in the Therapeutic Approach of Rheumatoid Arthritis
Table 1
Baseline characteristics.
Variable
Simvastatin group
Control group
Age (years)
61.15 (9.49)
56.48 (11.84)
0.053
Women
44 (88%)
42 (84%)
0.566
Rheumatoid factor positive
25 (50%)
27 (54%)
0.69
Anti-CCP antibody positive
25 (50%)
28 (56%)
0.55
Disease duration (years)
10.62 (9.37)
11.98 (11.86)
0.956
Methotrexate
32 (64%)
33 (66%)
0.835
Sulfasalazine
20 (40%)
19 (38%)
0.838
Hydroxychloroquine
10 (20%)
11 (22%)
0.807
Leflunomide
12 (24%)
11 (22%)
0.813
Etanercept
1 (2%)
1 (2%)
1
Oral prednisolone
16 (32%)
17 (34%)
0.832
Early morning stiffness (min)*
12.80 (0–60)
15.25 (0–60)
0.446
Tender joint count*
7.02 (0–24)
5.23 (0–25)
0.168
Swollen joint count*
1 (0–8)
0.6 (0–4)
0.684
VAS pain (mm)
59.76 (18.90)
50.50 (23.74)
0.062
Patient global assessment (mm)
58.29 (14.47)
54.75 (19.61)
0.206
Evaluator global assessment (mm)
51.46 (9.10)
47.50 (12.55)
0.066
HAQ-DI
1.53 (0.51)
1.36 (0.59)
0.166
Erythrocyte sedimentation rate (mm/h)
27.76 (15.81)
27.58 (18.76)
0.545
C-reactive protein (mg/L)*
4.66 (0.36–36.67)
4.71 (0.6–21.6)
0.932
DAS28 ESR
4.44 (0.98)
4.04 (1.00)
0.074
DAS28 CRP
3.72 (1.00)
3.39 (0.91)
0.122
SDAI
19.51 (9.03)
16.19 (8.02)
0.085
CDAI
19.05 (9.10)
15.73 (8.09)
0.087
Disease activity
LDA
14 (28%)
19 (38%)
0.290
MDA
28 (56%)
25 (50%)
0.550
HDA
8 (16%)
6 (12%)
0.566
Total cholesterol (mg/dL)
240.34 (40.33)
197.15 (30.13)
<0.001
LDL cholesterol (mg/dL)
155.07 (32.29)
113.66 (25.30)
<0.001
HDL cholesterol (mg/dL)
62.33 (15.88)
63.53 (19.06)
0.758
Triglyceride (mg/dL)
133.58 (49.22)
108.65 (48.29)
0.024
Total creatine phosphokinase (UI/L)
73.12 (33.44)
78 (51.74)
0.788
Alanine transaminase
17.65 (6.82)
22.74 (12.39)
0.055
Aspartate aminotransferase
19.53 (5.45)
21 (7.19)
0.576
Hypertension
42 (84%)
27 (54%)
0.001
Smokers
10 (20%)
9 (18%)
0.8
Ex-smokers
2 (4%)
3 (6%)
0.648
Overweight
26 (52%)
16 (32%)
0.044
Obesity
15 (30%)
13 (26%)
0.658
Previous stroke
2 (4%)
1 (2%)
0.56
Coronary heart disease
10 (20%)
0 (0%)
0.001
Between the breaks there are standard deviations or percents unless otherwise indicated; minimal and maximal values of the variable; LDA: low disease activity; MDA: moderate disease activity; HDA: high disease activity.