Fig. 2

Differences between mean NPX values with 95% confidence intervals of selected serum and salivary biomarkers in children with JIA (n = 42) compared to controls (n = 30). NPX = normalized protein expression. MD = mean difference. Biomarkers were selected if the difference between mean NPX values was significantly different (p < 0.05) or had a difference of at least 0.4 when comparing children with JIA with controls. Positive differences indicate higher and negative differences indicate lower biomarker levels in JIA compared to controls. The selected serum biomarkers (n = 18, red bars) and salivary biomarkers (n = 8, blue bars) were sorted in descending order. Panels A and B show the difference in serum (A) and saliva (B) for the total group of children with JIA (n = 42) compared to controls (n = 30), while panels C (serum) and D (saliva) show the same differences in n = 28 children with JIA after exclusion of 14 children treated with TNF inhibitors