title: The association of red blood cell distribution width with anemia and inflammation in patients with Takayasu arteritis.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Red blood cell distribution width (RDW) has been shown to be related to both anemia and inflammation in various diseases. However, the role of RDW in patients with Takayasu arteritis (TA) is unknown. Therefore, we investigated the association of RDW with anemia, inflammation, and disease activity in TA.
  
  
  METHODS
  RDW was determined in 156 patients with TA and in 156 control subjects. Anemia status and disease activity were defined according to the World Health Organization and National Institutes of Health criteria, respectively.
  
  
  RESULTS
  RDW was significantly increased in patients with anemia (14.6±2.2) compared with those without anemia (13.6±1.3, p<0.001) and control subjects (12.7±0.6, p<0.001). Regardless of the presence of anemia, RDW showed correlation with high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) (both p<0.05). RDW was higher in active TA than inactive TA in patients without anemia (14.1±1.5 vs. 13.3±1.1, p=0.001). Moreover, multiple regression analysis showed that hs-CRP and mean corpuscular volume were independently associated with RDW.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  RDW is influenced by both anemia and inflammation, and RDW may be a useful marker to assess disease activity in patients without anemia.
authors.affiliation: Department of Special Care Center, State Key Laboratory of Cardiovascular Disease, Fuwai Hospital, National Center for Cardiovascular Diseases, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing 100037, China.
authors.forename: Qing
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Department of Special Care Center, State Key Laboratory of Cardiovascular Disease, Fuwai Hospital, National Center for Cardiovascular Diseases, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing 100037, China. Electronic address: amdang@fuwaihospital.org.
authors.forename: Ai-min
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Dang
authors.affiliation: Department of Special Care Center, State Key Laboratory of Cardiovascular Disease, Fuwai Hospital, National Center for Cardiovascular Diseases, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing 100037, China.
authors.forename: Bing-wei
authors.initials: BW
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of Special Care Center, State Key Laboratory of Cardiovascular Disease, Fuwai Hospital, National Center for Cardiovascular Diseases, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing 100037, China.
authors.forename: Na-qiang
authors.initials: NQ
authors.lastname: Lv
authors.affiliation: Department of Special Care Center, State Key Laboratory of Cardiovascular Disease, Fuwai Hospital, National Center for Cardiovascular Diseases, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing 100037, China.
authors.forename: Xu
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Special Care Center, State Key Laboratory of Cardiovascular Disease, Fuwai Hospital, National Center for Cardiovascular Diseases, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing 100037, China.
authors.forename: De-yu
authors.initials: DY
authors.lastname: Zheng
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000740:Anemia / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000032:analysis*; D002097:C-Reactive Protein / Q000378:metabolism; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D004909:Erythrocyte Indices; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007249:Inflammation / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology; D008297:Male; D011379:Prognosis; D013625:Takayasu Arteritis / Q000097:blood / Q000150:complications*
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D002097:C-Reactive Protein
keywords: Anemia; Disease activity; Inflammation; Red blood cell distribution width; Takayasu arteritis