Reassessing the Role of the Active TGF-β1 as a Biomarker in Systemic Sclerosis: Association of Serum Levels with Clinical Manifestations

Table 1

Demographic and clinical characteristics of the patients with systemic sclerosis .

Characteristic
Age (yrs.), mean ± SD (range)	45.1 ± 14.3 (19–79)
Gender female, (%)	53 (94.6)
Disease duration (months), median (range)	120 (8–696)
Clinical subgroups, (%)
Diffuse cutaneous	26 (46.4)
Limited cutaneous	30 (53.6)
Rodnan score, median (range)	7.0 (0–36)
Clinical manifestations, (%)
Raynaud phenomenon	54 (96.4)
Digital ulcer	33 (58.9)
Esophageal dysfunction	28 (58.3)
Lung fibrosis	24 (42.9)
Pulmonary arterial hypertension	9 (16.7)
Arthritis	18 (32.1)
Muscle involvement	14 (25.0)
Autoantibodies, (%)
Positive ANA	46 (93.9)
Positive anticentromere	7 (15.9)
Positive antitopoisomerase I	14 (42.4)
Treatment, (%)
Glucocorticoids	20 (35.7)
Azathioprine	10 (17.9)
Methotrexate	4 (7.1)
Mycophenolate mofetil	3 (5.6)
Cyclophosphamide	6 (10.7)