What is the relationship between asthma and rheumatoid arthritis? The latest research tells you!

Recent studies have found that in a cohort of women with rheumatoid arthritis, a strong association has been observed between asthma and elevated anti citrullinated antibodies, and this association has nothing to do with smoking.before the onset of rheumatoid arthritis joint symptoms, there will be an increase in blood anti citrullinated protein antibody (ACPA). Previous studies have shown that after environmental triggers (such as infection or smoking), there may be loss of immune tolerance and production of autoantibodies in patients with mucositis.therefore, this study explored whether asthma (a common disease characterized by chronic airway inflammation) is associated with elevated ACPA before the onset of rheumatoid arthritis."a case-control study was conducted among women in the American Nurses' Health Study (NHS) from 1976 to 2014 and nhsii from 1989 to 2015.the study included 284 cases of rheumatoid arthritis and 849 cases of control.blood was drawn from some patients in each NHS cohort to determine whether ACPA or rheumatoid factor were positive.the asthma status of the patients was determined by a two-year questionnaire before blood sampling.participants in the analysis met the rheumatoid arthritis criteria of the American Society of Rheumatology (ACR) in 1987 or ACR / European Union Against Rheumatism in 2010.the age, cohort and year of each case were matched with the control.the results of the study showed that 33.8% of patients with rheumatoid arthritis had elevated ACPA levels before diagnosis.at the time of blood sampling, 17.7% of patients with ACPA positive before rheumatoid arthritis were diagnosed as asthma by clinicians, while only 6.3% of the corresponding control group (P = 0.0008).in the adjusted analysis of control matching factors, smoking pack years, passive smoking and BMI, the positive ACPA in patients with rheumatoid arthritis was still significantly correlated with asthma (or = 3.57; 95% CI, 1.58-8.04).the results showed that there was a strong and special relationship between asthma and the increase of ACPA level before rheumatoid arthritis.even in non-smokers, the association between asthma and elevated ACPA before rheumatoid arthritis increased nearly five fold."after adjustment analysis, there was no association between asthma and rheumatoid arthritis (or = 1.45; 95% CI, 0.91-2.31). However, there was a significant correlation between asthma and serum positive RA (or = 1.79; 95% CI, 1.01-3.18)."these findings suggest that asthma patients may have a higher risk of developing ACPA positive rheumatoid arthritis, and their signs and symptoms should be closely monitored,."future research should focus on whether asthma subtypes, severity or treatment have different risks for rheumatoid arthritis.yimaitong was compiled from: ashma linked to upgraded anti citrullinated antibacterials in rheumatoid arthritis healing December 12, 2019