Fig. 1

The flowchart of our study design. RA, rheumatoid arthritis, RA_MD, RA patients with metabolic diseases, RA_T2D, RA patients with type 2 diabetes, RA_HLP, RA patients with hyperlipidaemia, RA_AS, RA patients with atherosclerosis, GA, gouty arthritis, GA_MD, GA patients with metabolic diseases, SLE, systemic lupus erythematosus, SLE_MD, SLE patients with metabolic diseases