Serum Levels of Asymmetric Dimethylarginine and Apelin as Potential Markers of Vascular Endothelial Dysfunction in Early Rheumatoid Arthritis

Table 1

Demographic and clinical characteristic of ERA patients.

F/M	13/7
Age, yrs	51 ± 14.2 (27–77)
Mean ± SD (range)
Disease duration, months	7.5 ± 9.5 (1–24)
Mean ± SD (range)
DAS28 baseline	5.0 ± 2.9 (2.39–8.58)
Mean ± SD (range)
DAS28 followup	2.9 ± 1.5 (0.84–5.86)^*
Mean ± SD (range)
IMT baseline, mm	0.73 ± 0.15 (0.44–0.80)
Mean ± SD (range)
IMT followup, mm	0.73 ± 0.14 (0.45–0.90)
Mean ± SD (range)
Corticosteroids	20/20
Methotrexate	14/20
Hydroxychloroquine	4/20
Sulfasalazine	3/20
Adalimumab	6/20
Etanercept	0/20

ERA: early rheumatoid arthritis; DAS28: disease activity score 28.
^*P  <0.05 versus baseline value.