Increased Levels of Oxidative Stress Markers, Soluble CD40 Ligand, and Carotid Intima-Media Thickness Reflect Acceleration of Atherosclerosis in Male Patients with Ankylosing Spondylitis in Active Phase and without the Classical Cardiovascular Risk Factors

Table 1

Demographic data of the study subjects.

Characteristic	AS patients ()	Healthy subjects ()	value
Sex (M/F)	48/0	48/0	—
Age (years), mean (SD)	46.06 ± 1.44	46.63 ± 1.50	0.096
BMI (kg/m^2), mean (SD)	24.5 ± 4.4	23.8 ± 5.7	0.674
Smoking (yes/no)	0/48	0/48	—
BASDAI	5.35 ± 1.64	—	—
BASFI	5.13 ± 2.17	—	—
HLA B27 antigen (yes/no)	48/0	—	—
Cerebral/coronary/peripheral vascular disease (yes/no)	0/48	0/48	—
Hypertension (yes/no)	0/48	0/48	—
Diabetes mellitus (yes/no)	0/48	0/48	—
Hyperlipidemia (yes/no)	0/48	0/48	—
Medication
NSAID (yes/no)	48/0	—	—
DMARD (yes/no)	0/48	—	—
Biological agents (yes/no)	0/48	—	—

SD: standard deviation; BMI: body mass index; BASDAI: the Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease Activity Index; BASFI: the Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Functional Index; HLA B27 antigen: human leukocyte B27 antigen; NSAID: nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug; DMARD: disease-modifying antirheumatic drug.