Modifications in Lipid Levels Are Independent of Serum TNF-α in Rheumatoid Arthritis: Results of an Observational 24-Week Cohort Study Comparing Patients Receiving Etanercept Plus Methotrexate or Methotrexate as Monotherapy
Table 1
Comparison of baseline characteristics between the etanercept + methotrexate (ETA + MTX) group and the MTX as monotherapy group.
Clinical characteristics
Total = 35
ETA + MTX = 22
MTX = 13
Females, (%)
32 (91)
20 (91)
12 (92)
0.88
Age, years
44.9 ± 9.7
47.4 ± 8.3
40.6 ± 10.8
0.04
Body mass index, kg/m2
25.0 ± 3.3
24.7 ± 3.4
25.5 ± 3.2
0.49
Smoking, (%)
12 (34)
7 (32)
5 (39)
0.68
Duration of RA, years
10.8 ± 6.6
12.3 ± 6.7
8.2 ± 6.0
0.08
DAS-28 score
6.3 ± 0.9
6.2 ± 0.8
6.5 ± 1.1
0.47
HAQ-DI score
1.45 ± 0.56
1.45 ± 0.52
1.51 ± 0.64
0.78
Morning stiffness, mm (VAS)
62 ± 20
63 ± 19
61 ± 23
0.85
Severity of pain, mm (VAS)
67 ± 19
66 ± 16
69 ± 24
0.65
Disease activity, by physician, mm (VAS)
61 ± 16
61 ± 15
60 ± 17
0.91
Total cholesterol, mg/dL
181.5 ± 40.2
187.9 ± 38.1
170.6 ± 42.7
0.22
High total cholesterol levels, (%)
12 (34)
7 (32)
5 (38)
0.73
Triglycerides, mg/dL
141.8 ± 67.4
150.4 ± 75.1
127.4 ± 51.5
0.34
High triglycerides levels, (%)
14 (40)
9 (41)
5 (38)
0.89
HDL-C, mg/dL
46.7 ± 13.0
48.1 ± 15.6
44.3 ± 6.8
0.34
Low HDL-C levels, (%)
8 (23)
6 (27)
2 (15)
0.68
LDL-C, mg/dL
100.7 ± 30.9
100.7 ± 25.8
100.5 ± 39.2
0.99
High LDL-C levels, (%)
7 (20)
3 (14)
4 (31)
0.38
Dyslipidemia, (%)
20 (57)
13 (59)
7 (54)
0.76
TNF-, pg/mL
96.91 ± 169.26
129.14 ± 207.70
42.36 ± 23.46
0.08
Rheumatoid factor, U/mL
421.23 ± 633.92
501.59 ± 752.79
309.97 ± 422.72
0.42
C-reactive protein, mg/L
29.97 ± 46.31
20.08 ± 30.02
43.67 ± 61.11
0.17
HDL-C: high-density lipoprotein cholesterol; LDL-C: low-density lipoprotein cholesterol; TNF-: tumor necrosis factor-alpha; VAS: visual analogue scale; RA: rheumatoid arthritis; DAS-28: disease activity score; HAQ-DI: Health Assessment Quest-Disability Index. Quantitative variables are presented as mean standard deviation (SD); qualitative variables are presented in number (%); comparisons between proportions utilized Fisher exact test; comparisons between means were calculated with unpaired Student’s t-tests.
