This article is more than 5 years old. Information may no longer be current.
Smoking, being overweight contributed to rheumatoid arthritis development
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts
Individuals with rheumatoid arthritis-specific autoantibodies who smoked and were overweight had an increased risk for developing rheumatoid arthritis, according to study data.
For a median of 27 months, researchers in the Netherlands followed 55 patients whose serum had rheumatoid arthritis (RA)-specific autoantibodies (immunoglobulin M-rheumatoid factor [RF]-positive, n=19; anti-citrullinated protein-antibodies [ACPA]-positive, n=22; both antibodies, n=14) but showed no evidence of arthritis during physical examination. Smoking was classified as having ever smoked vs. having never smoked, and body mass index (BMI) was assessed as normal (<25 kg/m2) or overweight (≥25 kg/m2). Arthritis occurrence was considered clinical endpoint.
Fifteen patients (mean age, 47 years; 60% women) developed arthritis (14 diagnosed with RA) at a median follow-up of 13 months. Smokers had a higher percentage of developing arthritis compared with never-smokers (93% vs. 53%; P=.005), as did individuals who were overweight compared with normal weight (87% vs. 45%; P=.006). Arthritis development was associated with smoking (HR=9.6; 95% CI, 1.3-73.0) in proportional hazard regression analysis. Independent of smoking, being overweight also was associated with arthritis (HR=5.6; 95% CI, 1.3-25.0). At a median of 27 months, the overall risk for developing arthritis increased from 28% to 60% among patients who smoked and were overweight.
“The importance of our findings is emphasized by the increased incidence of RA over the last decades, which cannot be explained by genetic factors, but is most likely influenced by environmental factors,” the researchers said. “The results presented here suggest that preventable factors, such as smoking and [being] overweight, may increase the risk of developing RA in RF- and/or ACPA-positive individuals. These results … should be critically evaluated in future clinical research aimed at the disease population.”
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts