Influence of female hormonal factors, in relation to autoantibodies and genetic markers, on the development of rheumatoid arthritis in northern Sweden: a case–control study

Abstract

A longer duration of breastfeeding increased the risk of developing RA, especially among individuals seropositive for ACPA or IgM-RF or carrying the PTPN22 1858T variant. Use of OC for ≥ 7 years was associated with a decreased risk.

Breastfeeding and Risk of Rheumatoid Arthritis: A Systematic Review and Metaanalysis

“…After detailed evaluations, 10 studies were full-text reviewed and 4 studies were excluded (3 studies used duplicate data 17,18,19 and 1 had no relation to RA onset, but with severity of RA 20 ). Finally, in the current study, 6 eligible studies 11,12,13,14,15,16 that met the inclusion criteria were included in our metaanalysis. There were 5 studies on whites and 1 study on Asians.…”

“…The Journal of on July 23, 2015 -Published by www.jrheum.org Downloaded from the influence of breastfeeding on the risk of RA have yielded conflicting results 11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19 12,13 . One proposed mechanism for this protective effect is through antiinflammatory progesterone, which rises during pregnancy and continues to be high during breastfeeding 24 .…”

“…Amelioration of RA has been observed during pregnancy with exacerbation in the postpartum period 10 , and breastfeeding might play an important role in this apparent paradoxical result. The influence of breastfeeding on the risk of developing RA has been investigated in a number of studies, but their results were inconsistent, with increased risk, reduced risk, or no discernable effect reported 11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19 .…”

Parity and the risk of developing rheumatoid arthritis: results from the Swedish Epidemiological Investigation of Rheumatoid Arthritis study

“…The increased risk has been observed during the first 3 months up to 2 years post partum,3–6 whereas parous women in the long run seem to have no increased risk7–10 or even a reduced risk of RA 11–13. For other reproductive factors, such as number of children7–9 11 13 14 and age at first birth,7–9 11 12 the reported results are inconclusive. Notably, previous studies have been conducted without studying the two subsets of RA, which are characterised by the presence/absence of antibodies to citrullinated peptide antigens (ACPA), separately.…”

Non-contraceptive benefits of oral contraceptives

“…[42][43][44][45][46] The majority of studies have found that past or current use of COCs has a protective effect against RA development. 47 In a recent case-control study, Berglin et al 48 reported a decreased risk for development of RA in women who had been using COCs for 7 years or more (OR: 0.37; 95% CI: 0.15-0.93). In the Norfolk Arthritis Register, which is a primary care-based cohort of patients with recentonset inflammatory polyarthritis, it was found that COC users have a better functional outcome than nonusers.…”