Table 3

Autoantibodies, endothelial cell parameters, FMD, NMD and IMT in MCTD patients with/without cardiovascular diseases

Feature

MCTD (n = 50)

Controls (n = 38)

P value, MCTD vs. controls^a

MCTD/CVD⁺ (n = 23)

MCTD/CVD^- (n = 27)

P value, MCTD/CVD⁺ vs. MCTD/CVD^-b

Anti-U₁RNP (U/ml)

20.18 ± 14.6

8.02 ± 3.5

<0.001

30.3 ± 14.6

11.51 ± 7.28

<0.001

Anti-CL IgG/IgM (U/ml)

13.98 ± 12.2

6.06 ± 2.93

<0.001

21.02 ± 15.04

7.98 ± 2.95

<0.001

AECA (IU/ml)

50.1 ± 34.5

17.1 ± 8.48

<0.001

62.9 ± 26.3

39.1 ± 37.2

<0.001

Thrombomodulin (ng/ml)

12.2 ± 8.1

3.2 ± 1.3

<0.001

15.9 ± 5.2

9.0 ± 8.8

<0.001

vWFAg (%)

224.1 ± 115

89.4 ± 27.1

<0.001

311.5 ± 72.0

149.7 ± 90.0

<0.001

FMD (%)

4.76 ± 4.2

8.74 ± 5.05

<0.001

3.54 ± 2.9

5.81 ± 4.87

0.0002

NMD (%)

14.35 ± 6.67

17.16 ± 6.7

0.073

13.54 ± 6.06

15.03 ± 7.15

0.1283

IMT (mm)

0.64 ± 0.13

0.53 ± 0.14

<0.001

0.72 ± 0.11

0.57 ± 0.1

<0.001

AECA, anti-endothelial cell antibody; anti-CL, anti-cardiolipin; anti-U₁RNP, anti-U₁ ribonucleoprotein; CVD, cardiovascular disease; FMD, flow-mediated dilation; IMT, intima-media thickness; MCTD, mixed connective tissue disease; NMD, nitrate-mediated dilation; vWFAg, von Willebrand factor antigen. ^aMCTD and controls, Mann-Whitney U test. ^bMCTD/CVD⁺ and MCTD/CVD^-, analysis of variance test.

Soltesz et al. Arthritis Research & Therapy 2010 12:R78   doi:10.1186/ar2999