Baseline characteristics according to treatment group and association with PCSK9
| Placebo (n=59) | Tocilizumab (n=58) | Between groups P values | PCSK9† R | PCSK9‡ R | |
| Age (years) | 60.1±9.9 | 59.8±7.7 | 0.859 | −0.03 | −0.16 |
| Female gender | 5 (8.5%) | 9 (15.5%) | 0.364 | 0.02 | 0.00 |
| BMI (kg/m2) | 27.4±4.4 | 28.8±3.3 | 0.055 | −0.08 | 0.25* |
| Hypertension | 17 (28.8%) | 26 (44.8%) | 0.109 | −0.09 | 0.07 |
| Hypercholesterolaemia | 13 (22.0%) | 17 (29.3%) | 0.491 | 0.06 | 0.15 |
| Diabetes type 2 | 10 (16.9%) | 10 (17.2%) | 1.0 | −0.06 | 0.01 |
| Smoking (previous or current) | 40 (67.8 %) | 35 (61.4%) | 0.599 | 0.06 | 0.08 |
| Heart rate (beats/min) | 66±13 | 66±10 | 0.770 | −0.08 | 0.02 |
| SBP (mm Hg) | 137±18 | 140±18 | 0.389 | −0.06 | 0.02 |
| DBP (mm Hg) | 81±12 | 83±12 | 0.273 | −0.05 | 0.08 |
| PCI | 47 (79.7%) | 41 (70.7%) | 0.367 | −0.04 | 0.02 |
| CABG | 7 (11.9%) | 6 (10.3%) | 1.0 | 0.00 | 0.12 |
| Medical treatment | 5 (8.5%) | 11 (19.0%) | 0.167 | 0.05 | −0.14 |
| GRACE score | 92 (75, 105) | 86 (72, 97) | 0.168 | 0.00 | −0.16 |
| Biochemistry | |||||
| Creatinine (µmol/L) | 76 (69, 90) | 76 (66, 83) | 0.260 | −0.10 | 0.02 |
| Leucocytes (×109/L) | 7.3 (5.9, 9.2) | 7.9 (5.9, 9.3) | 0.406 | 0.12 | 0.02 |
| Neutrophils (×109/L) | 4.5 (3.4, 6.0) | 5.1 (3.4, 6.3) | 0.471 | 0.08 | 0.04 |
| Interleukin-6 (pg/mL) | 2.2 (1.1, 4.6) | 2.7 (1.2, 8.7) | 0.185 | 0.02 | −0.10 |
| C-reactive protein (mg/L) | 2.5 (1.0, 8.3) | 2.7 (1.5, 4.7) | 0.458 | 0.02 | 0.01 |
| Troponin T (ng/L) | 192 (71, 571) | 128 (53, 749) | 0.965 | 0.05 | 0.05 |
| Total cholesterol (mmol/L) | 5.3 (4.5, 5.9) | 4.9 (4.2, 5.7) | 0.279 | −0.02 | 0.10 |
| LDL cholesterol (mmol/L) | 3.2 (2.8, 3.8) | 3.0 (2.3, 3.6) | 0.149 | −0.09 | 0.09 |
| Medication at baseline | |||||
| Aspirin | 59 (100%) | 57 (98.3%) | 0.496 | 0.04 | 0.06 |
| Clopidogrel | 32 (54.2%) | 32 (55.2%) | 1.0 | −0.02 | −0.06 |
| Ticagrelor | 27 (45.8%) | 26 (44.8%) | 1.0 | 0.02 | 0.06 |
| Low molecular weight heparin | 54 (91.5%) | 51 (89.5%) | 0.952 | 0.01 | −0.03 |
| Beta blocker | 45 (76.3%) | 45 (77.6%) | 1.0 | −0.05 | −0.05 |
| Statin | 53 (89.8%) | 53 (91.4%) | 1.0 | 0.14 | – |
*P<0.01.
†Spearman correlation.
‡Partial correlation adjusting for statin use. Categorical data are given as n (%). Continuous data are expressed as mean±SD or median (25th, 75th percentiles) and were compared with unpaired parametric or non-parametric tests depending on distribution.
BMI, body mass index; CABG, coronary artery bypass grafting; DBP, diastolic blood pressure; GRACE, Global Registry of Acute Coronary Events; LDL, low-density lipoprotein; PCI, percutaneous coronary intervention; PCSK9, proprotein convertase subtilisin-kexin type 9; SBP, systolic blood pressure.