Low Levels of CD36 in Peripheral Blood Monocytes in Subclinical Atherosclerosis in Rheumatoid Arthritis: A Cross-Sectional Study in a Mexican Population

Table 1

Characteristics and comparison of RA subgroups with and without increased cIMT.

Variable	Study groups		𝑃
	cIMT ≤ 0.6 mm; 𝑛=38	cIMT > 0.6 mm; 𝑛=29
Age, years	42.58±11.43	47.74±12.54	0.14
RA characteristics
Disease duration, years	4.52±4.46	3.40±5.50	0.47
DAS28, units	2.73±0.98	3.48±1.12	0.03
Lipid profile
TC, mg/dL	176.39±34.83	239.78±44.31	<0.001
Tg, mg/dL	136.87±58.22	195.33±63.95	0.002
HDL-c, mg/dL	51.87±15.34	36.74±8.40	<0.001
LDL-c, mg/dL	109.00±24.50	111.45±27.74	0.75
VLDL-c, mg/dL	27.79±10.91	32.85±16.10	0.17
ox-LDL, mg/dL	55.62±5.38	219.48±98.58	<0.001
AIP, TC/HDL-c	3.66±1.26	6.77±1.72	<0.001
Serological profile
ESR, mm/h	24.03±19.67	21.14±9.03	0.52
RF, IU/mL	97.18±101.12	134.18±133.94	0.61
CRP, mg/L	3.83±2.61	13.29±6.31	<0.001
TNF𝛼, pg/mL	64.72±9.28	104.75±17.49	<0.001
IL-6, pg/mL	29.03±3.43	99.45±11.29	<0.001
Anti-CCP, U/mL	73.22±65.92	154.62±97.70	0.004
Flow  cytometry
CD36, MFI	170.43±38.80	67.09±27.50	<0.001
DMARDs
Methotrexate, 𝑛 (%)	36 (94.7)	29 (100)	0.14
Time of use, years	4.51±4.42	3.30±5.27	0.06
Chloroquine, 𝑛 (%)	21 (55.3)	15 (51.7)	1.00
Sulfasalazine, 𝑛 (%)	9 (23.7)	4 (13.8)	0.52
Azathioprine, 𝑛 (%)	6 (15.8)	4 (13.8)	1.00
Corticosteroids, 𝑛 (%)	3 (7.9)	1 (3.5)	0.45

RA: rheumatoid arthritis; cIMT: carotid intima-media thickness; DAS28: disease activity score; TC: total cholesterol; Tg: triglycerides; HDL-c: high density lipoprotein cholesterol; LDL-c: low density lipoprotein cholesterol; VLDL-c: very low density lipoprotein cholesterol; AIP: atherogenic index of plasma; ESR: erythrocyte sedimentation rate; RF: rheumatoid factor; CRP: C-reactive protein; TNF𝛼: tumor necrosis factor alpha; IL: interleukin; anti-CCP: anticyclic citrullinated peptides; MFI: mean fluorescence intensity; DMARDs: disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs.
Qualitative variables are expressed as frequencies (%); quantitative variables are expressed as means ± standard deviations (SD). Comparisons between proportions were computed using Chi-square or Fisher exact test. Comparisons between medians were computed with unpaired Student’s 𝑡-test.