Research Article

Symmetric Dimethylarginine Is Not Associated with Cumulative Inflammatory Load or Classical Cardiovascular Risk Factors in Rheumatoid Arthritis: A 6-Year Follow-Up Study

Table 1

Patient characteristics at baseline and at follow-up (Sandoo A, Dimitroulas T, Hodson J, Smith JP, Douglas KM, Kitas GD. Cumulative inflammation associates with asymmetric dimethylarginine in rheumatoid arthritis: a 6 year follow-up study. Rheumatology. 2014 Sep 3. [Ahead of print]. Reproduced with permission from Oxford University Press).

Baseline (2006)Follow-up (2012)

General characteristics
 Age (years)61 (53–67)67 (59–73)
 Sex female (%)155 (77%)155 (77%)
 Body mass index (kg/M2)27 (24–30)28 (24–32)
Disease characteristics
 Disease duration (years)10 (4–18)16 (11–25)
 Rheumatoid factor positive (%)148 (74%)148 (74%)
 Anti-CCP positive (%)123 (61%)123 (61%)
 DAS284.0 (3.1–4.8)3.1 (2.5–4.0)
 HAQ1.3 ± 0.91.6 ± 0.9
 C-reactive protein (mg/L)7.5 (4.3–16)3 (2.9–8.5)
 Erythrocyte sedimentation rate (mm/hr)17 (8–30)12 (5–23)
 SDMA (μmol/L)0.47 (0.40–0.53)
Cardiovascular disease risk factors
 Hypertension (%)132 (66%)130 (65%)
 Dyslipidemia (%)115 (57%)158 (79%)
 Insulin resistance (%)65 (32%)53 (26%)
 Diabetes (%)7 (4%)21 (10%)
Global CVD risk scores
 Framingham Risk Score (%) 4 (1–8)8 (5–13)
 Reynolds Risk Score (%)6 (3–13)8 (3–14)
RA Medications
 Methotrexate (%)128 (64%)122 (61%)
 Prednisolone (%)58 (29%)51 (25%)
 NSAID’s (%)47 (23%)26 (13%)
 Cyclooxygenase II inhibitors (%)14 (7%)5 (3%)
 Anti-TNFα therapy (%)20 (10%)57 (28%)
 Tocilizumab (%)3 (2%)
Cardiovascular medications
 Antihypertensive (%)81 (40%)79 (39%)
 Antihypercholesterolemic (%)33 (16%)74 (37%)
 Beta-blocker (%)32 (16%)22 (11%)
 Calcium channel blocker (%)26 (13%)27 (13%)

Results are expressed as median (25th to 75th percentile values), mean ± standard deviation or number (percentage). DAS28 = disease activity score in 28 joints. Anti-TNFα = antitumour necrosis factor alpha; CCP = citrullinated protein antibody; HAQ = Health Assessment Questionnaire; NSAID’s = nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs; SDMA: symmetric dimethylarginine.