Controlled Cohort Study of Serum Gonadal and Adrenocortical Steroid Levels in Males Prior to Onset of Rheumatoid Arthritis (pre-RA): A Comparison to pre-RA Females and Sex Differences among the Study Groups

Table 5

Summary of correlations of pre-RA versus CN within each sex group (upper section) and of males versus females within each study group (lower section)*.

Partial correlations observed to differences between preRA versus CN	PreRA versus CN correlations in males (Table 2)						PreRA versus CN correlations in females (Table 3)						𝑍-score diff.	𝑃 value
	preRA (𝑛=18)		CN (𝑛=72)		ΔCN-preRA		preRA (𝑛=36)		CN (𝑛=144)		ΔCN-preRA
	𝑟𝑝	𝑃	𝑟𝑝	𝑃	𝑍	𝑃	𝑟𝑝	𝑃	𝑟𝑝	𝑃	𝑍	𝑃
OH-Preg × Cortisol	0.843	<0.000	0.557	<0.000	−2.117	0.034	0.075	0.667	0.163	0.052	0.462	0.664^†	−2.579	0.010
Adione × E2/T ratio	−0.377	0.136	0.051	0.670	1.571	0.116	0.323	0.063	−0.113	0.181	−2.287	𝟎.𝟎𝟐𝟐^‡	3.858	0.000
Prolactin × T	−0.327	0.200	−0.211	0.078	0.440	0.660	0.207	0.232	−0.199	0.017	−2.129	𝟎.𝟎𝟑𝟑^†	2.569	0.010
Partial correlations observed to differ between men versus women	Correlations by sex in 54 PreRA (Tables 2 and 3)						Correlations by sex in 216 CN (Tables 2 and 3)
	Male (𝑛=18)		Female (𝑛=36)		ΔM−F		Male (𝑛=72)		Female (𝑛=144)		ΔM−F
	𝑟𝑝	𝑃	𝑟𝑝	𝑃	𝑍	𝑃	𝑟𝑝	𝑃	𝑟𝑝	𝑃	𝑍	𝑃
Adione × E2/T ratio	−0.377	0.136	0.323	0.063	−2.338	0.019	0.051	0.670	−0.113	0.181	1.117	0.264^‡	−3.455	0.0006
Prolactin × E2/T ratio	0.404	0.108	−0.241	0.170	2.115	0.031	0.172	0.152	0.094	0.270	0.539	0.590	1.576	0.1150
LH × DHEAS	−0.424	0.090	0.186	0.285	−2.058	0.040	0.008	0.947	−0.117	0.165	0.854	0.393^†	−2.912	0.0036
OH-Preg × cortisol	0.843	<0.001	0.075	0.667	3.713	<0.001	0.557	<0.001	0.163	0.052	3.158	0.002	0.555	0.5789
OH-Preg × DHEAS	0.076	0.773	0.395	0.019	−1.097	0.273	−0.090	0.456	0.324	<0.001	−2.902	0.004	1.805	0.0711
OH-Prog × adione	0.559	0.020	0.439	0.008	0.515	0.607	0.611	<0.001	0.329	<0.001	2.510	𝟎.𝟎𝟏𝟐^∗	−1.995	0.0460
OH-Prog × T	0.539	0.026	−0.397	0.018	3.285	0.001	0.508	<0.001	−0.074	0.378	4.316	<0.001	−1.031	0.3025
OH-Prog × E2/T ratio	−0.355	0.162	0.473	0.005	−2.828	0.005	−0.281	0.018	0.229	0.006	−3.544	<0.001	0.716	0.4740
OH-Prog × cortisol	0.496	0.043	−0.239	0.167	2.530	0.011	0.433	<0.001	−0.103	0.221	3.859	<0.001	−1.329	0.1838
OH-Prog × DHEAS	−0.227	0.380	0.220	0.204	−1.460	0.144	−0.151	0.209	0.172	0.040	−2.218	0.027	0.758	0.4485
OH-Prog × LH	0.063	0.811	−0.326	0.056	1.289	0.197	0.261	0.028	−0.217	0.009	3.319	𝟎.𝟎𝟎𝟏^∗	−2.030	0.0424
Prolactin × DHEAS	−0.040	0.879	−0.108	0.537	0.220	0.826	0.416	<0.001	−0.087	0.304	3.608	<0.001 ^‡	−3.388	0.0007
DHEA × cortisol	0.737	0.001	0.224	0.195	2.299	0.021	0.538	<0.001	0.173	0.038	2.904	0.004	−0.605	0.5452
Adione × cortisol	0.471	0.057	0.199	0.251	0.994	0.320	0.638	<0.001	0.040	0.638	4.865	<0.001 ^‡	−3.871	0.0001
Adione × DHEAS	−0.207	0.426	0.632	<0.001	−3.066	0.002	0.132	0.274	0.411	<0.001	−2.069	0.039	−0.997	0.3188
Adione × E2	0.129	0.621	0.502	0.002	−1.356	0.175	0.443	<0.001	0.173	0.039	2.050	𝟎.𝟎𝟒𝟎^‡	−3.406	0.0007
T × E2	0.228	0.379	−0.191	0.272	1.366	0.172	0.297	0.012	0.017	0.839	1.969	0.049	−0.603	0.5465
Cortisol × E2	0.404	0.108	0.115	0.518	1.005	0.315	0.256	0.031	−0.196	0.019	3.134	𝟎.𝟎𝟎𝟐^∗	−2.129	0.0333

∗Within each sex (upper section), significant differences in partial correlations (Z and 𝑃 values) between pre-RA versus CN (Tables 2 and 3) observed in either pre-RA or CN group, but not in both, are bolded. Within each study group (lower section), only exclusive sex differences (Tables 2 versus Table 3) are bolded.
Two additional low-level sex differences in partial correlations were observed in the total subjects (mentioned in text).
^∗𝑃<0.050, >0.010; ^†𝑃<0.010, >0.001; ^‡𝑃<0.001 probability levels for sex differences (ΔM−F) between study groups (ΔCN−RA).
Differences between Z scores in the right minus left panel entries and their corresponding P values are listed in the last two columns.
The signs of the Δ𝑍-scores derive from subtraction of the Z values in the right panel (females in upper and CN in lower row entries) from the Z values in the left panel (males in upper and pre-RA in lower entries), respectively (see text).