The clinical characteristics of the 16 RA patients were as follows: age 49.4 ± 2.5 years, disease duration 82.2 ± 12.4 months, erythrocyte sedimentation rate 42.7 ± 6.2 mm/h, and C-reactive protein 1.69 ± 0.3 mg/dL. Here, CRP is linked to rheumatoid arthritis.