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Smokers may have reduced risk of Sjögren’s syndrome

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Smoking may have a protective effect against the development of primary Sjögren’s syndrome, according to research presented at the European League Against Rheumatism Annual European Congress of Rheumatology.

Sixty-three patients from the Malmö Preventive Medicine database of 33,346 enrollees and the Malmö Diet and Cancer database of 30,447 enrollees developed primary Sjögren’s syndrome (pSS) and were each matched to four living control participants with no diagnosis of pSS for sex, year of birth and year of screening. Mean age at inclusion was 51 years, and 8% of the patients were men. Median time since diagnosis was 98 months.

Patients with pSS met 2002 American-European Consensus Group criteria, and antinuclear antibodies (ANAs) were present in 73%, rheumatoid factor was present in 57%, anti-Ro antibodies were present in 59% and anti-La antibodies were present in 41% of patients with pSS.

A significantly greater number of nonsmokers was seen in the pSS group prior to diagnosis compared with the control group (85% vs. 68%), and current smoking at the time of diagnosis was associated with an odds ratio (OR) of 0.26 for developing a subsequent diagnosis of pSS. The ratio of present to former smokers was 0.3 among patients with pSS and 1.5 between control participants.

Former smokers showed an increased risk for developing pSS by an OR of 8.1 compared with patients who smoked at the time of diagnosis and an OR of 4.1 compared with patients who never smoked. Smoking cessation was not associated with symptoms of pSS in 22 of 32 patients with available data, and diagnosis occurred 5 years or more after cessation. Anti-Ro and anti-La antibodies were seen in 80% of smokers, 56% of former and 56% of never smokers, according to the researchers. – by Shirley Pulawski

Reference:

Theander E, et al. Paper #OP0087. Presented at: European League Against Rheumatism Annual European Congress of Rheumatology; June 10-13, 2015; Rome.

Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.