Marked Independent Relationship between Circulating Interleukin-6 Concentrations and Endothelial Activation in Rheumatoid Arthritis

Table 2

Independent relationships of modifiable conventional cardiovascular risk factors and disease characteristics with endothelial activation in 217 patients with RA.

Characteristics	MCP-1*	VCAM-1*	ICAM-1*	E-selectin	Endothelial activation score
Ever smoking	0.105	−0.091	𝟎.𝟏𝟑𝟕^∗∗	−0.004	0.062
Waist circumference	0.104	−𝟎.𝟏𝟔𝟔^†	−0.077	0.063	−0.076
Hypertension	0.056	0.006	−0.113	𝟎.𝟏𝟔𝟗^†	0.051
DBP	0.078	0.029	0.040	𝟎.𝟏𝟒𝟓^†	0.102
EGFR*	−0.131	−0.109	−0.153	−0.090	−𝟎.𝟐𝟎𝟓^§
Deformed joints*	0.013	𝟎.𝟏𝟕𝟒^†	−0.073	−0.036	0.034
ESR*	0.012	0.111	0.025	𝟎.𝟐𝟎𝟒^†	0.159
IL-6*	𝟎.𝟑𝟑𝟎^§	𝟎.𝟐𝟒𝟔^§	𝟎.𝟏𝟔𝟖^†	𝟎.𝟐𝟓𝟎^§	𝟎.𝟒𝟐𝟑^§
Prednisone use	0.134	0.061	0.071	0.123	𝟎.𝟏𝟔𝟓^†

Results are expressed as partial correlation coefficient as obtained in multivariable models in which age, sex, and cardiovascular risk factors including conventional risk factors (body mass index, hypertension, dyslipidemia (cholesterol-HDL cholesterol ratio > 4 and use of lipid lowering therapy), smoking, and diabetes) and RA characteristics (disease severity (deformed joints), disease activity score in 28 joints, and prednisone use) were adjusted. Significant relationships are shown in bold type. MCP-1: monocyte chemoattractant protein-1; VCAM-1: vascular adhesion molecule-1; ICAM-1: intercellular adhesion molecule-1; DBP: diastolic blood pressure; EGFR: estimated glomerular filtration rate; ESR: erythrocyte sedimentation rate; IL-6: interleukin-6; LDL: low-density lipoprotein; *logarithmically transformed, ∗∗,†,§significance at 0.05, <0.05 to 0.01, and <0.01 to <0.0001, respectively.