Baseline characteristics of the 183 patients with early rheumatoid arthritis
| Continuous variables are expressed as means (SD). | |
| Anti-CCP, antibodies against cyclic citrullinated peptide; anti-IL1α, antibodies against interleukin 1α; COMP, cartilage oligomeric matrix protein; ESR, erythrocyte sedimentation rate; Larsen, Larsen radiographic score44; RF, rheumatoid factor; U, units. | |
| Age at onset (years) | 51 (12.4) |
| Female/male (n) | 116/66 |
| Presence of “shared epitope” (%) | 85 |
| C reactive protein (mg/l) | 27 (33) |
| ESR (mm/h) | 36 (28) |
| COMP (U/l) | 11.9 (3.7) |
| Larsen at baseline (U) | 8 (9) |
| IgG RF positivity (%) | 67 |
| IgA RF positivity (%) | 78 |
| IgM RF positivity (%) | 79 |
| Anti-CCP positivity (%) | 80 |
| Anti-IL1α positivity (%) | 22 |