Table 3 Comparison of clinical and laboratory characteristics between three groups according functional disability and disease activity.

Variables	Disability + high DAS28-ESR (n = 24)	Disability + low DAS28-ESR (n = 19)	Non-disabled (n = 39)	p
Age (years)	56 (35–73)	55 (37–77)	59 (30–79)	0.90
Body mass index	28 (19–35)	28 (22–34)	26 (19–46)	0.10
Disease duration (years)	14 (0.1–27)	8 (1–30)	9 (0.1–30)	0.39
RF (IU/mL)	57 (8–765)	67 (9–641)	20 (5–118)	0.18
ESR (mm/h)	33.5 (5–354)	24 (7–45)	21 (0.1–43)	0.06
Adipokines
Chemerin, (ng/mL)	160 (77–1402)	136 (71–235)	112 (56–277)	*0.008*
Leptin, (ng/mL)	31 (3–115)	25 (4–175)	33 (7–99)	0.98
Adiponectin, (ng/mL)	7767 (1328–25,529)	12,886 (3921–17,166)	8927 (1368–24,532)	0.33
Resistin, (pg/mL)	7 (2–13)	7 (4–10)	6 (4–20)	0.29
Visfatin, (ng/mL)	19 (2–172)	21 (6–255)	20 (2–278)	0.87
Cytokines
IL-6, (pg/mL)	7 (1–110)	6 (1–32)	4 (0.4–29)	0.10
TNF-α , (pg/mL)	6 (1–474)	6 (3–714)	5 (0.3–668)	0.18
IL-1β, (pg/mL)	7 (5–11)	7 (1–9)	7 (5–15)	0.87
IL-18, (pg/mL)	389 (137–1027)	333 (141–672)	388 (127–1767)	0.60
Adhesion cell molecule
E-Selectin, (pg/mL)	48 (32–84)	39 (9–84)	40 (13–84)	0.12
Treatment
Methotrexate, n (%)	11 (46)	9 (47)	26 (67)	0.22
Sulfasalazine, n (%)	9 (38)	11 (58)	17 (44)	0.30
Chloroquine, n (%)	6 (25)	3 (16)	11 (28)	0.64
Azathioprine, n (%)	4 (17)	3 (16)	3 (8)	0.47
b-DMARDs, n (%)	6 (25)	3 (16)	4 (10)	0.13
Corticosteroid, n (%)	21 (88)	18 (95)	19 (49)	*0.008*
Prednisone doses, mg/day	5 (2.5–10)	5(2.5–7.5)	5 (2.5–10)	0.30

RF rheumatoid factor, ESR erythrocyte sedimentation rate, IL-6 interleukin-6, TNF-α tumor necrosis factor α, IL-1β interleukin-Beta 1, IL-18 interleukin-18.
Three groups: (a) rheumatoid arthritis with functional disability and higher disease activity (disability: HAQ-Di, score ≥ 0.6 + high DAS28-ESR, score > 3.2); (b) rheumatoid arthritis with functional disability and lower disease activity (disability: HAQ-Di, score ≥ 0.6 + low DAS28-ESR, score ≤ 3.2) and (c) rheumatoid arthritis patients without functional disability (non-disabled). Qualitative variables are expressed in frequency (%); quantitative variables are expressed in median (ranges). Proportions were compared with chi square test and the comparison of quantitative variables was performed with Kruskal–Wallis test.

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