Serum Neuropeptide Y Levels Are Associated with TNF-α Levels and Disease Activity in Rheumatoid Arthritis

Table 2

Comparison between the group with RA in remission () and the group with RA-active disease ().

Variable	RA in remission ()	RA-active ()
Age (years)			0.12
RA disease duration (years)			0.16
DXA measurement of body composition
Overweight and obesity, (%)	33 (82.5)	43 (63.2)	0.05
Lean mass (%)			0.70
Body fat mass (%)			0.88
Treatment and clinical characteristics
HAQ-DI score (units)			<0.001
Synthetic-DMARD use, (%)	67 (98.5)	38 (95)	0.55
Biologic-DMARD use, (%)	4 (10)	9 (13.2)	0.76
Corticosteroid dose (mg/day)			0.12
Laboratory variables
CRP (mg/L)			0.001
ESR (mm/h)			0.001
RF (IU/mL)			0.06
TNF-α (ng/mL)			0.40
IL-6 (pg/mL)			0.04
Anti-CCP (RU/mL)			0.64
Leptin (pg/mL)			0.31
NPY (pg/mL)			0.05

RA: rheumatoid arthritis; DAS28-ESR: Disease Activity Score for 28 joints with Erythrocyte Sedimentation Rate; HAQ-DI: Health Assessment Questionnaire-Disability Index; DMARDs: disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs; TNF-α: tumor necrosis factor-alpha; IL-6: interleukin 6; NPY: neuropeptide Y. Comparisons between proportions were compared with the chi-squared test or Fisher’s exact test (when required). Comparisons between means were evaluated with Student’s -test for independent samples.