Skip to main content

Table 1 Clinical characteristics at starting the initial TNF inhibitor classified by tacrolimus use (per patient)

From: Long-term effectiveness and safety of methotrexate-tacrolimus combination therapy versus methotrexate monotherapy in reducing rheumatoid arthritis flares after TNF inhibitor discontinuation: a retrospective cohort study

Factor

Patients never received tacrolimus combination (n = 72)

Patients ever received tacrolimus combination (n = 44)

P-value

Age

59.3 [48.3, 65.3]

57.5 [49.9, 64.8]

0.72

Female gender

56 (77.8)

39 (88.6)

0.21

Height (cm)

158 [153, 163]

158 [154, 162]

0.58

Weight (kg)

53.5 [48.0, 58.0]

49.9 [46.5, 56.1]

0.09

Smoking status at starting TNF inhibitor

   

 Current

12 (16.7)

6 (13.6)

0.88

 Previous

11 (15.3)

8 (18.2)

 

 Never

49 (68.1)

30 (68.2)

 

Symptom duration (weeks)

107 [45, 258]

264 [96, 423]

0.02

Duration of prior methotrexate treatment (weeks)

30 [17, 107]

26 [12, 99]

0.36

Previous bDMARD use

8 (11.1)

3 (6.8)

0.53

Tender joint count (0–28)

5 [2, 8]

7 [4, 10]

0.01

Tender joint count (0–68)

9 [5, 13]

13 [6, 20]

0.04

Swollen joint count (0–28)

6 [3, 10]

8 [5, 13]

0.03

Swollen joint count (0–66)

9 [5, 13]

12 [6, 17]

0.07

PtGA (0–100)

50 [27, 68]

49 [30, 69]

0.94

PhGA (0–100)

35 [27, 48]

45 [33, 58]

0.02

C-reactive protein (mg/dL)

0.65 [0.22, 1.49]

1.40 [0.48, 3.08]

0.04

Erythrocyte sedimentation rate (mm/hr)

28 [16, 57]

39 [22, 65]

0.05

Matrix Metalloproteinase-3 (ng/mL)

110.7 [54.5, 202.9]

156.8 [70.0, 303.8]

0.18

Rheumatoid factor positivity

65 (90.3)

38 (86.4)

0.55

Rheumatoid factor titer (U/mL)

81 [35, 224]

98 [28, 252]

0.84

Anti-CCP antibody positivity

65 (90.3)

37 (84.1)

0.38

DAS28

5.07 [4.06, 5.65]

5.50 [4.54, 6.30]

0.01

SDAI

20.48 [14.44, 27.88]

26.30 [17.25, 38.33]

0.02

HAQ-DI (0–3)

0.62 [0.25, 1.50]

0.88 [0.34, 1.69]

0.15

Sharp/van der Heijde score

4 [1, 17]

9 [1, 27]

0.19

 Erosion score

2 [0, 7]

2 [0, 12]

0.71

 Joint space narrowing score

2 [0, 10]

6 [0, 17]

0.05

Methotrexate dose (mg/week)

13 [12, 16]

12 [10, 14]

0.13

Patients on tacrolimus

0 (0.0)

3 (6.8)

0.05

Patients on other csDMARDs

1 (1.4)

1 (2.3)

1

Patients on oral glucocorticoids

33 (45.8)

24 (54.5)

0.45

 Prednisolone dose (mg/day)

0.0 [0.0, 3.0]

3.3 [0.0, 5.0]

0.04

TNF inhibitor, initially used in the study sites

   

 Infliximab

24 (33.3)

23 (52.3)

0.04

 Etanercept

21 (29.2)

15 (34.1)

 Adalimumab

20 (27.8)

3 (6.8)

 Certolizumab pegol

4 (5.6)

1 (2.3)

 Golimumab

3 (4.2)

2 (4.5)

  1. Data are presented as median [interquartile range] or number (%). P values were calculated using Mann-Whitney U and Fisher’s exact tests. Bold values for P-values denote statistical significance at the p < 0.05 level. The numbers of missing values for each variable in patients who never received methotrexate-tacrolimus combination and those who ever received it are as follows: number of tender or swollen in 28 joints, 1 and 4; numbers of tender or swollen in 66/68 joints, 3 and 6; patient general assessment, 1 and 5; physician general assessment, 2 and 5; laboratory values other than anti-CCP antibodies, 1 and 4; DAS28, 1 and 4; SDAI, 2 and 5; HAQ-DI, 1 and 8, respectively
  2. Abbreviations: bDMARD, biological disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs; CCP, cyclic citrullinated peptide; csDMARD, conventional synthetic disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs; DAS28, Disease Activity Score in 28 joints; HAQ-DI, Health Assessment Questionnaire-Disability Index; PtGA, patient’s global assessment for disease activity; PhGA, physician’s global assessment for disease activity; SDAI, Simplified Disease Activity Index; TNF, tumor necrosis factor
Back to article page

BMC Rheumatology

ISSN: 2520-1026

Contact us