Possible Modulation of Vascular Function Measures in Rheumatoid Arthritis by Homocysteine

Table 1

Participant characteristics, cardiovascular hemodynamics, and blood lipid parameters.

Variables	Patients (n = 31)	Control (n = 19)	p value
Demographics
Females, n (%)	31 (100)	19 (100)	1.000
Disease duration, months	34.7 ± 42.6
Age, years	39.3 ± 12.1	37.6 ± 13.7	0.600
Height, cm	161 ± 8.28	159 ± 7.14	0.200
Weight, kg	71.7 ± 17.0	64.6 ± 13.5	0.100
Body mass index, kg/m2	27.2 ± 6.11	25.6 ± .82	0.300
Body Fat, %	31.6 ± 7.71	30.1 ± 6.98	0.400
Waist/hip	0.82 ± 0.15	0.72 ± 0.09	0.005
Cardiovascular Hemodynamics
Heart rate, b/min	78.5 ± 11.5	69.5 ± 8.03	0.001
Systolic pressure, mmHg	119 ± 12.8	108 ± 11.9	0.003
Diastolic pressure, mmHg	73.9 ± 9.74	68.1 ± 8.20	0.010
Mean pressure, mmHg	88.9 ± 10.1	81.4 ± 8.64	0.004
Pulse pressure, mmHg	44.5 ± 8.20	39.8 ± 8.86	0.070
Blood Lipid Parameters
Cholesterol, mmol/l	5.01 ± 1.05	4.61 ± 1.24	0.200
HDL, mmol/l	1.32 ± 0.32	1.37 ± 0.34	0.500
LDL, mmol/l	3.26 ± 0.76	3.05 ± 1.22	0.600
Glucose, mmol/l	4.99 ± 0.76	4.74 ± 0.47	0.100
ESR, Units	63.5 ± 25.7	21.6 ± 9.07	0.001
RF, IU/mL	112.0 ± 127.0

Data presented as mean ± SD, ESR: erythrocyte sedimentation rate, HDL: high density lipoproteins, and LDL: low density lipoproteins.