Baseline characteristics of patients with early arthritis.

<p>DAS28-ESR, 28-joint Disease Activity Score; HAQ, Health Assessment Questionnaire; CRP, C-reactive protein; ESR, erythrocyte sedimentation rate; ACPA, anti-citrullinated peptide antibodies; RF, rheumatoid factor; NS, non-significant.</p

Effect of the presence of the shared epitope and the minor rs7574865 allele in <i>STAT4</i> or rs2476601 in <i>PTPN22</i> on disease activity (DAS28) and disability (HAQ) in patients with early arthritis.

<p>DAS28, 28-joint Disease Activity Score; HAQ, Health Assessment Questionnaire; Coeff., coefficient; Ref., reference; RA, rheumatoid arthritis; UA, undifferentiated arthritis; ACPA, anti-citrullinated peptide antibodies; NI, not included; NS, non-significant.</p

Patients with early arthritis who were homozygous for the minor rs7574865 allele of <i>STAT4</i> exhibited stronger disease activity during the follow-up.

<p>The data are categorized according to the rs7574865 genotype of <i>STAT4</i> (upper panel), the rs2476601 genotype of <i>PTPN22</i> (middle panel), and the number of copies of the shared epitope (SE; lower panel). Data represent the interquartile range (p75, upper edge of the box; p25, lower edge; p50, midline), p95 (line above the box) and p5 (line below the box) of the DAS28 adjusted for gender and age (aDAS28). Dots represent outliers.</p

Effect of the rs7574865 and rs2476601 polymorphisms in <i>STAT4</i> and <i>PTPN22</i> on the level of disease activity in patients with early arthritis.

<p>A) STAT4 genotypes: GG, white bars; GT, gray bars; TT, black bars. B) PTPN22 genotypes: CC, white bars; CT, gray bars; TT, black bars. Data represent the proportion of visits in which remission, or low, moderate or high disease activity was recorded in the patients of each genotype. This figure illustrates the findings presented in <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0043661#pone-0043661-t003" target="_blank">Table 3</a>, in which the statistical significance of the differences in disease activity associated with the genotype of each polymorphism is shown.</p