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Growth and infectious exposure during infancy and the risk of rheumatoid factor in adult life

Growth and infectious exposure during infancy and the risk of rheumatoid factor in adult life
Growth and infectious exposure during infancy and the risk of rheumatoid factor in adult life
Background: The contribution of the environment to rheumatoid arthritis (RA) remains uncertain. Intrauterine and early postnatal life may be important. Rheumatoid factor (RF) found in around 10% of the normal population confers a risk of developing RA and may be present years before onset of clinical disease. The immune pathology leading to RA and RF may have similar genetic and environmental influences.

Objective: To measure RF in people for whom data on birth weight, infant growth, and markers of infectious exposure during infancy and childhood, had been previously recorded.

Methods: 675 men and 668 women aged 59-67 years, born and still resident in Hertfordshire, UK, were studied. RF was measured with an ELISA. Associations between presence of RF, early growth, and markers of hygiene in infancy, were investigated.

Results: RF was detected in 112/675 (16.6%) men and 79/668 (11.8%) women. No significant relationships existed between early growth and presence of RF in men or women. Among women, sharing a bedroom during childhood was associated with a lower risk of RF positivity (OR = 0.48, 95% CI 0.30 to 0.78, p = 0.003).

Conclusions: A developing immune system exposed to increased infectious exposure is less likely to produce RF in adult life; this may reduce the pathological process which leads to RA.
0003-4967
401-404
Edwards, Christopher J.
dcb27fec-75ea-4575-a844-3588bcf14106
Goswami, R.
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Goswami, P.
e2b1812a-6f5f-4389-a401-bf7a36fb06ec
Syddall, Holly
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Dennison, Elaine M.
ee647287-edb4-4392-8361-e59fd505b1d1
Arden, Nigel K.
23af958d-835c-4d79-be54-4bbe4c68077f
Cooper, Cyrus
e05f5612-b493-4273-9b71-9e0ce32bdad6
Edwards, Christopher J.
dcb27fec-75ea-4575-a844-3588bcf14106
Goswami, R.
64e8d1fe-46a3-4ace-acdd-c6ee900a1087
Goswami, P.
e2b1812a-6f5f-4389-a401-bf7a36fb06ec
Syddall, Holly
a0181a93-8fc3-4998-a996-7963f0128328
Dennison, Elaine M.
ee647287-edb4-4392-8361-e59fd505b1d1
Arden, Nigel K.
23af958d-835c-4d79-be54-4bbe4c68077f
Cooper, Cyrus
e05f5612-b493-4273-9b71-9e0ce32bdad6

Edwards, Christopher J., Goswami, R., Goswami, P., Syddall, Holly, Dennison, Elaine M., Arden, Nigel K. and Cooper, Cyrus (2006) Growth and infectious exposure during infancy and the risk of rheumatoid factor in adult life. Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases, 65 (3), 401-404. (doi:10.1136/ard.2005.036301).

Record type: Article

Abstract

Background: The contribution of the environment to rheumatoid arthritis (RA) remains uncertain. Intrauterine and early postnatal life may be important. Rheumatoid factor (RF) found in around 10% of the normal population confers a risk of developing RA and may be present years before onset of clinical disease. The immune pathology leading to RA and RF may have similar genetic and environmental influences.

Objective: To measure RF in people for whom data on birth weight, infant growth, and markers of infectious exposure during infancy and childhood, had been previously recorded.

Methods: 675 men and 668 women aged 59-67 years, born and still resident in Hertfordshire, UK, were studied. RF was measured with an ELISA. Associations between presence of RF, early growth, and markers of hygiene in infancy, were investigated.

Results: RF was detected in 112/675 (16.6%) men and 79/668 (11.8%) women. No significant relationships existed between early growth and presence of RF in men or women. Among women, sharing a bedroom during childhood was associated with a lower risk of RF positivity (OR = 0.48, 95% CI 0.30 to 0.78, p = 0.003).

Conclusions: A developing immune system exposed to increased infectious exposure is less likely to produce RF in adult life; this may reduce the pathological process which leads to RA.

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More information

Published date: March 2006

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 61072
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/61072
ISSN: 0003-4967
PURE UUID: 03e5520c-2c38-478d-b1fe-5d154691ae89
ORCID for Holly Syddall: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0003-0171-0306
ORCID for Elaine M. Dennison: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-3048-4961
ORCID for Cyrus Cooper: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0003-3510-0709

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Date deposited: 03 Sep 2008
Last modified: 18 Mar 2024 02:48

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Contributors

Author: R. Goswami
Author: P. Goswami
Author: Holly Syddall ORCID iD
Author: Nigel K. Arden
Author: Cyrus Cooper ORCID iD

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