Recent gut and urinary infections may decrease risk of rheumatoid arthritis says new study
The risk of developing rheumatoid arthritis could be curbed by recent gut and urinary tract infections, says research in the Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases.
Experts looked at the impact of different infections on the risk of developing rheumatoid arthritis in 6,401 people in Sweden (average age 52 years, 70% women); 2,831 were newly diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis and the other 3,570 were healthy people matched for age, sex, and area of residence. The participants were asked whether in the previous two years they had had gut, urinary tract or genital infections, inflamed prostate or antibiotic treatment for sinusitis, tonsillitis/other throat infection.
Gut, urinary tract and genital infections in the previous two years were each associated with a lower risk of developing rheumatoid arthritis, by 29%, 22%, and 20%, respectively. And having all three types of infection in the previous two years was linked to a 50% lower risk.
But no such associations were found for recent respiratory infections and pneumonia.
The findings took into account smoking and socioeconomic background.
The impact of gut, urinary tract, and genital infections within the past two years seemed to be stronger in people who had tested positive for a particular type of protein associated with development of rheumatoid arthritis (ACPA).
Although no definitive conclusions can be drawn about cause and effect, the findings “are particularly interesting in light of emerging data implicating that the microbiome in the gut may play a role in rheumatoid arthritis pathogenesis,” the researchers say.
“The results indicate that infections in general do not affect the risk for rheumatoid arthritis, but that certain infections, hypothetically associated with changes in the gut microbiome, could diminish the risk.”
Interestingly, the infection sites identified in the study are primarily infected with gram negative bacteria, and antibiotics used to treat these bacteria have proved effective for treating rheumatoid arthritis.
Click here to read the original research.
Subscribe to Arthritis Digest, the UK’s fastest growing arthritis magazine for all the latest arthritis news, reviews and celebrity interviews. You’ll know what your doctor is talking about, what new drugs are in the pipeline and be up to date on helpful products. Hard copy and digital versions both available. Click here for more information.
Image credit: Enzymlogic
