Comparison between patients with detectable and undetectable levels of interleukin 33 in sera, by ELISA. Values are median unless otherwise stated.
| IL-33+, n = 30 | IL-33−, n = 29 | p | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Age, yrs | 56.5 (30–74) | 59 (23–92) | 0.306 |
| Sex, % female | 80.0 | 82.8 | 0.785 |
| Disease duration, yrs | 6.5 (1–65) | 6 (0–27) | 0.494 |
| Stage, no. of patients | 0.173 | ||
| I | 5 | 8 | |
| II | 6 | 10 | |
| III | 11 | 4 | |
| IV | 8 | 7 | |
| Class, no. of patients | 0.196 | ||
| 1 | 3 | 7 | |
| 2 | 16 | 13 | |
| 3 | 7 | 9 | |
| 4 | 4 | 0 | |
| Tender joint count, 0–46 joints | 7 (0–36) | 3 (0–19) | 0.013 |
| Swollen joint count, 0–48 joints | 9.5 (0–34) | 3 (0–9) | 0.001 |
| CRP, mg/dl | 1.08 (0.00–15.6) | 0.82 (0.00–27.4) | 0.264 |
| DAS28-CRP | 4.2 (1.5–7.3) | 3.3 (1.0–6.6) | 0.017 |
| MMP-3, ng/ml | 173 (13–663) | 119 (10–792) | 0.682 |
| IL-5, pg/ml | 6.2 (0.0–142.7) | 0.1 (0.0–56.1) | 0.005 |
| IL-6, pg/ml | 25.2 (0.0–836.6) | 1.3 (0.0–687.5) | 0.123 |
| IL-13, pg/ml | 0.0 (0.0–109.1) | 0.0 (0.0–6.3) | 0.605 |
| TNF-α, pg/ml | 4.4 (0.0–332.8) | 7.2 (0.0–726.2) | 0.520 |
| IL-1ß, pg/ml | 4.9 (0.0–156.2) | 3.0 (0.0–32.0) | 0.180 |
| Eosinophil, %* | 0.6 (0.0–8.0) | 0.8 (0.0–4.7) | 0.478 |
| Eosinophil, /μl* | 23 (0–483) | 47 (0–371) | 0.713 |
| Treatment | |||
| PSL | |||
| No. patients | 24 | 20 | 0.330 |
| Mg/day | 5 (1.5–10) | 5 (2–10) | 0.135 |
| MTX | |||
| No. patients | 23 | 20 | 0.506 |
| Mg/week | 8 (2–10) | 6 (4–8) | 0.249 |
| Biologics | |||
| No. patients | |||
| Infliximab | 10 | 13 | 0.365 |
| Etanercept | 1 | 3 | 0.293 |
| Other DMARD, | TAC 5, SASP 3, | TAC 1, CyA 1, | |
| No. of patients | BUC 3, GST 1 | BUC 1, ACT 1 |
↵* Eosinophil (%) and eosinophil (/μl) were analyzed in the 28 and 24 patients in the IL-33+ and IL-33– groups whose samples were available, respectively. IL: interleukin; IL-33+: patients with detectable levels of IL-33; IL-33–: patients with undetectable levels of IL-33; CRP: C reactive protein; DAS28-CRP: Disease Activity Score 28 based on C-reactive protein; MMP-3: matrix metalloproteinase 3; TNF-α: tumor necrosis factor-α; PSL: prednisolone; MTX: methotrexate; TAC: tacrolimus; SASP: salazosulfapyridine; CyA: cyclosporin A; BUC: bucillamine; GST: gold sodium thiomalate; ACT: actarit; eosinophil (%): percentage of eosinophils in total white blood cells; eosinophil (/μl): cell numbers of eosinophils in peripheral blood.