Table 6.

Correlation between disease activity at baseline and serum cytokine levels after TCZ therapy. Correlations between DAS28 scores at baseline and serum cytokine levels at 4 weeks after TCZ administration were analyzed. Statistical significance of the correlation coefficient (r) was determined using Spearman’s rank correlation test (r > 0.3 or p < 0.05; data shown in bold type).

Cytokine (post-TCZ)	DAS28/ESR4 (baseline)		DAS28/CRP4 (baseline)
Cytokine (post-TCZ)	r	p	r	p
IL-1ß	−0.137	0.514	−0.018	0.391
IL-2	0.127	0.555	0.031	0.887
IL-6	0.442	0.027	0.470	0.018
IL-17A	0.185	0.377	0.237	0.254
IL-17F	0.095	0.650	0.156	0.457
IFN-α	0.021	0.923	0.054	0.805
TNF-α	−0.041	0.847	0.044	0.836

TCZ: tocilizumab; DAS28: 28-joint Disease Activity Score; ESR: erythrocyte sedimentation rate; CRP: C-reactive protein; IL: interleukin; IFN: interferon; TNF: tumor necrosis factor.