Women who smoke and possess a genetic mutation 'more at risk from rheumatoid arthritis'
New research has suggested that women with a certain genetic mutation who smoke are more likely to develop rheumatoid arthritis (RA).
An international team of scientists from Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard in the US published their findings in the journal Arthritis Research & Therapy.
They noted that genes known as PTPN22, PADI-4, and CTLA-4 have previously been linked to RA risk.
In their study, the team used medical records from 1976 and 1989 to monitor the instance of RA. In each case where a woman developed the condition, the researchers matched them with a participant without RA by year of birth, menopausal status and postmenopausal hormone use.
When careful genetic analysis was then carried out it was shown that the presence of PTPN22 was associated with increased RA risk; and that this risk was far stronger in women who smoked.
As a result, Dr Karen Costenbader and the rest of the team concluded: "PTPN22 was associated with RA risk among Caucasian women in these cohorts. We found both additive and multiplicative interactions between PTPN22 and heavy cigarette smoking."
A spokesman for the Arthritis Research Campaign, whose scientists first established that smoking was a major risk factor for RA, said: "RA is caused by a combination of factors, and we are moving ever closer to understanding exactly what they are and how they interact."
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