Myostatin Levels and the Risk of Myopenia and Rheumatoid Cachexia in Women with Rheumatoid Arthritis
Table 2
Comparison of clinical characteristics between RA patients with and without low muscle mass in the univariable analysis.
RA+low muscle mass kg/m2
RA+normal muscle mass kg/m2
value
Age, median (range)
57.5 (18-80)
59.0 (24-89)
0.80
Menopause, (%)
74 (86)
58 (77)
0.15
Sedentary, (%)
57 (66)
48 (64)
0.76
BMI (kg/m2), median (range)
23.5 (16.5-36.7)
29.3 (21.4-39.5)
<0.001
Disease duration, median (range)
12 (1-40)
8 (1-35)
0.02
Deteriorated functional class (II-IV), (%)
69 (80)
45 (60)
0.005
DAS28-
41 (48)
19 (25)
0.003
Rheumatoid cachexia, (%)
24 (28)
6 (8)
0.001
Myostatin (ng/mL), median (range)
13.54 (1.88-140)
10.02 (1.2-117)
0.02
High myostatin levels (≥17 ng/mL)
37 (43)
17 (23)
0.006
DAS28-ESR: Disease Activity Score (28 joints), Erythrocyte Sedimentation Rate. DAS28- indicates moderate or severe disease activity in RA patients. Quantitative variables expressed in medians and ranges and compared by Mann-Whiney tests; qualitative variables expressed in frequency and % and compared by chi-square tests.
