Table 2

Laboratory markers of disease activity in TAK

Study identification	TAK (N)	Circulating laboratorial markers	Studied groups	Results	P value	NOS score
Goel et al 24	32	ESR	Active vs stable	36.5 (range 14.0–70.8) vs 20.0 (range 13.5–43.0)	NS	4
		CRP	Active vs stable	4.5 (range 1.1–33.2) vs 3.4 (range 0.6–11.0)	NS
		IL-6	Active vs stable	18.2 (range 3.2–46.2) vs 9.6 (range 4.8–16.33)	NS
de Souza and Ataide Mariz25	59	ESR	Active vs inactive	54.8±30.9 vs 18.1±15.0	0.015	4
de Souza and Ataide Mariz25	59	ET-1	Active vs inactive	1.70±0.46 vs 1.43±0.44	NS	4
Park et al 23	47	ESR	Active vs stable	41.1±18.8 vs 14.4±9.6	0.01	3
Park et al 23	47	CRP	Active vs stable	1.2±1.1 vs 0.6±0.4	NS	3
Park et al 31	49	ESR	Active vs stable	44.4±19.0 vs 12.5±8.8	<0.05	3
		IL-6	Active vs stable	54.3±21.2 vs 14.7±5.5	<0.05
		IL-18	Active vs stable	850.0±211.1 vs 378.7±154.1	<0.001

This scale assesses the quality of studies based on a ‘star/points system’ and evaluates studies according to three main considerations: selection of study groups; comparability of the groups; and ascertainment of either the exposure or outcome of interest for case–control or cohort studies, respectively. The maximum score is 9. The RoB decreases inversely to the score.
CRP, C reactive protein in mg/L; ESR, erythrocyte sedimentation rate in millimetre/first hour; ET-1, endothelin-1 in pg/mL; IL-6, interleukin-6 in pg/mL;IL-18, interleukin-18 in pg/mL; NOS, Newcastle-Ottawa Scale; NS, non-significant; TAK, Takayasu arteritis.