Differences in Mammalian Target of Rapamycin Gene Expression in the Peripheral Blood and Articular Cartilages of Osteoarthritic Patients and Disease Activity

Table 1

Demographic and clinical characteristics of the outpatients with knee OA.

Set 1 patients	“Low mTOR” subset (𝑛=15)	“High mTOR” subset (𝑛=32)	𝑃 (Student’s unpaired 𝑡-test)
Age, years	60.7±6.7	60.3±6.9	0.86
Disease duration, years	12.0±8.8	11.2±10.3	0.80
BMI, kg/m^2	35.6±5.4	32.3±5.4	0.06
Menopause, years	11.4±6.4	12.3±7.2	0.69
Average K&L radiological stage
II	46.6% (7/15)	68% (22/32)	0.15
III	40% (6/15)	18.7% (6/15)	0.16
IV	13.4% (2/15)	12.5% (4/32)	0.93
ESR, mm/h	13.1±8.8	11.7±6.6	0.55
Total WOMAC, mm	1202±285	1102±309	0.29
Pain on descending	64.6±15.7	58.8±17.7	0.28
Pain on ascending	62.1±16.1	57.0±17.9	0.35
Pain on move onset	51.8±12.3	48.9±22.6	0.64
Pain at rest	35.0±20.3	31.8±15.8	0.55
Pain on walking	59.2±12.5	49.6±10.5	0.009
Pain on standing	62.5±13.0	50.8±16.4	0.02
Pain at night	28.8±19.4	35.6±23.4	0.34
Total pain	364.2±82.0	332.4±93.7	0.26
Total stiffness	101.3±25.7	75.0±27.0	0.003
Total physical function	737.4±217.6	695.0±229.8	0.55
Heberden’s nodes, %	80.0 (12/15)	59.0 (19/32)	0.08
Bouchard’s nodes, %	27.0 (4/15)	18.7 (6/32)	0.26
Synovitis, %	20 (3/15)	62.5 (20/32)	0.004
BMD, g/cm^2:
Lumbar spine (L1–L4)	0.916±0.1	0.960±0.1	0.35
Femoral neck	0.843±0.1	0.795±0.1	0.16
Total femur	0.981±0.1	0.884±0.1	0.01
Anti-inflammatory treatment (%):
Meloxicam	53 (8/15)	72 (23/32)	0.20
Nimesulide	27 (4/15)	22 (7/32)	0.70
Aceclofenac	0	6 (2/32)	—
None	20 (3/15)	0	—
Chondroprotective agents (%):
Chondroitin sulfate	60 (9/15)	22 (7/32)	0.01
Chondroitin sulfate + glucosamine sulphate	40 (6/15)	78 (25/32)	0.01

Values given are mean ± SD. BMI: body mass index; K&L: Kellgren-Lawrence; ESR: erythrocyte sedimentation rate; WOMAC: Western Ontario and McMaster Universities osteoarthritis index; BMD: bone mineral density.