Prediction of Methotrexate Clinical Response in Portuguese Rheumatoid Arthritis Patients: Implication of MTHFR rs1801133 and ATIC rs4673993 Polymorphisms

Table 1

Clinicopathological variables of population enrolled in the study.

	Value
Patient-related
Male, 𝑛 (%)	37 (15.9)
Female, 𝑛 (%)	196 (84.1)
Postmenopausal, 𝑛 (%)	96 (49.0)
Current smokers, 𝑛 (%)	32 (13.7)
NPY*, median (IQR)	19.5 (0.8–120.0)
Comorbidity**, 𝑛 (%)	126 (54.1)
Disease-related
Diagnosis age, mean ± SD, years	40.3±13.2
Disease duration, median (IQR), years	8.0 (0.5–53.0)
RF positive, 𝑛 (%)	131 (56.2)
Anti-CCP positive, 𝑛 (%)	175 (75.1)
ANAs positive, 𝑛 (%)	66 (28.3)
DAS28, mean ± SD	4.2±1.3
Individual variables—DAS28
TJC (out of 28), median (IQR)	4.0 (0.0–27.0)
SJC (out of 28), median (IQR)	3.0 (0.0–24.1)
ESR, median (IQR), minutes (1st hour)	18.0 (1.0–92.0)
Global health on VAS, median (IQR)	48.0 (0.0–100.0)
HAQ score, median (IQR)	1.25 (0.0–2.9)
HAQ ≤ 0.5, 𝑛 (%)	39 (16.7)
Treatment-related §
Symptomatic
Corticosteroids, 𝑛 (%)	188 (80.7)
Daily dose in prednisolone equivalents, median (IQR), mg	5.0 (0.0–20.0)
NSAIDs, 𝑛 (%)	170 (73.0)
Supplements
Folic acid^#, 𝑛 (%)	118 (50.6)
DMARDs
Methotrexate monotherapy, 𝑛 (%)	146 (62.7)
Combined methotrexate therapy—synthetic DMARDs, 𝑛 (%)	59 (25.3)
Combined methotrexate therapy—biological DMARDs, 𝑛 (%)	28 (12.0)
Methotrexate administration characteristics
Dose, median (IQR), mg/week	15.0 (2.5–25.0)
Treatment duration, median (IQR), months	28.0 (6.0–230.0)
Per os administration route, 𝑛 (%)	201 (86.3)
Subcutaneous administration route, 𝑛 (%)	32 (13.7)

∗NPY = (number of cigarettes smoked per day × number of years smoking)/20.
**Comorbidity was defined as the presence of diabetes mellitus, hypertension, dyslipidemia, and/or cardiac disorders beyond rheumatoid arthritis.
§Drugs coadministered with methotrexate when clinical response to methotrexate was recorded.
^#Patients in compliance with folic acid supplementation.
ANAs: antinuclear antibodies; Anti-CCP: anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide; BMI: body mass index; DAS28: disease activity score 28; DMARDs: disease modifying antirheumatic drugs; ESR: erythrocyte sedimentation rate; HAQ: health assessment questionnaire; IQR: interquartile range; NPY: number of pack years; NSAIDs: nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs; RF: rheumatoid factor; SD: standard deviation; SJC: swollen joints count; TJC: tender joints count; VAS: visual analog scale.