Compared their baseline characteristics, RA patients with high myostatin showed a higher rate of active smoking (20.3% vs. 9.9%), higher BMI (22.2 ± 3.4 kg/m2vs. 21.5 ± 3.2 kg/m2), higher radiographic assessment index including mTSS (median 14 vs. 6), JSN (median 5 vs. 2) and JE (median 8 vs. 4), while lower proportions of female (77.9% vs. 90.1%) and previous biologic agents (7.0% vs. 16.3%, all P<0.05, Table 2). Here, MSTN is linked to rheumatoid arthritis.