Smoking Worsens Rheumatoid Inflammation Save
Tobacco and chronic smoking is a major risk factor for the onset of rheumatoid arthritis (RA), and chronic smoking has been linked to severity of disease and lower DMARD response rates. None of this is surprising given the known higher risks for RA in those with ACPA seropositivity, the shared epitope and cigarette smoking.
A recent study from the Veterans Affairs RA registry analyzed 1466 RA patients - 76.9% anti-CCP2 positive, 89% male, median age 63 years and a median disease duration 8.45 years.
Among anti-CCP-positive RA patients, significantly higher levels of cytokines and DAS28 (P 0.01) were seen in current smokers compared with former or never smokers.
They also found that smoking cessation reduced the level of inflammatory markers and decreased disease activity similar to levels observed in never-smokers.
These results suggest that the detrimental effects of smoking could be improved with tobacco cessation. A prospective evaluation of smoking cessation in RA is needed.
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Disclosures
The author has no conflicts of interest to disclose related to this subject
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