Anti-Cyclic Citrullinated Peptide Antibodies and Severity of Interstitial Lung Disease in Women with Rheumatoid Arthritis
Table 1
Comparison in selected clinical variables between patients with RA and interstitial lung disease (RA-ILD) and patients with RA without interstitial lung disease (RA only).
Variable
RA patients groups
RA-ILD = 39
RA only = 42
Age, years
51.0 (36.0–72.0)
49.0 (24.0–73.0)
0.21
Smoking history, (%)
9 (23.1)
13 (31.0)
0.46
Current smokers, (%)
1 (2.6)
6 (14.3)
0.11
RA characteristics
Disease duration, years
7.0 (1.0–35.0)
6.5 (0.75–25.0)
0.26
DAS28 (units)
3.9 (1.7–5.3)
2.5 (1.7–5.1)
<0.001
Inactive (<2.8)
13 (33.3)
29 (69.0)
0.002
Active (≥2.8)
26 (66.7)
13 (31.0)
HAQ-Di (units)
0.8 (0.2–3.0)
0.4 (0.2–2.4)
<0.001
Impairment in HAQ-Di ≥0.6, (%)
29 (74.4)
14 (33.3)
<0.001
Global functional status III-IV, (%)
21 (44.7)
0 (0%)
—
Steinbrocker stage-hands, III or IV, (%)
6 (12.8)
0 (0%)
—
Rheumatoid nodules history, (%)
29 (74.4)
5 (14.7)
<0.001
ESR, mm/h
32.0 (14.0–62.0)
19.5 (8.0–45.0)
<0.001
Positive RF, (%)
38 (97.4)
15 (35.7)
<0.001
Anti-CCP titers
77.9 (25.2–200.0)
30.2 (7.0–70.14)
<0.001
Positive anti-CCP
39 (100)
27 (64.3)
<0.001
DMARDs
Methotrexate, (%)
39 (100)
41 (97.6)
1.00
At the time of the study, mg/week
15.0 (10.0–22.5)
7.5 (0–12.5)
<0.001
MTX treatment duration, years
7.0 (2.5–30.0)
5.0 (0.8–13.0)
0.002
MTX accumulated doses, grams
6.8 (3.1–129.6)
1.1 (0–2.1)
<0.001
Azathioprine, (%)
27 (69.2)
21 (50.0)
0.11
Chloroquine, (%)
10 (25.6)
19 (45.2)
0.10
Corticosteroids utilization, (%)
37 (94.9)
37 (88.1)
0.43
Qualitative variables were expressed in frequency (%); quantitative variables were expressed in medians (ranges); RA: rheumatoid arthritis; ILD: interstitial lung disease; ESR: erythrocyte sedimentation rate; VAS: visual analogue scale; HAQ-Di: Health Assessment Questionnaire-Disability Index; RF: rheumatoid factor; anti-CCP2: anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide antibodies (second generation); DMARDs: disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs. values for comparisons between medians were computed with Mann-Whitney test and for comparison between proportions were computed with chi-square (or Fisher exact test if applicable).
