Prevalence of atopy in rheumatoid arthritis in Sivas, Turkey. A prospective clinical study

Abstract

Assumed mutual antagonism of T-helper cell (Th)1 and Th2 diseases suggests that the prevalence of atopy should be decreased in rheumatoid arthritis (RA). We tried to determine that prevalence. Sixty-two patients with RA and 61 with osteoarthritis (control group) were included in the study. A questionnaire was used concerning mainly the symptoms of atopy. Skin prick tests, pulmonary function tests, chest X-rays, immunoglobulin E levels, and eosinophil counts were obtained. The prevalences of asthma, hay fever, and eczema in the RA group were 3.2%, 14.5%, and 1.6%, respectively. In the control group, they were 6.5%, 22%, and 6.5%, respectively. There was no significant difference between groups. There was also no significant difference between immunoglobulin E levels. Eosinophil counts were higher in the control group, however these values were within the normal range. Skin prick tests were obtained in seven RA patients, and eight controls revealed increased positivity. The prevalence of atopy in rheumatoid arthritis was not different from that in the general population. Our study results cannot support the concept of Th1/Th2 mutual antagonism.

Mucocutaneous manifestations in patients with rheumatoid arthritis: A cross-sectional study from Eastern India

“…In a previous series, 1% patients had an atopic skin disease,[6] which is comparable to another study conducted by Kaptanoglu et al ., in which 1.6% of RA patients had atopic dermatitis. [24] However, there was no patient with atopic dermatitis in the present series. Overall, atopic skin diseases seem to be less common in RA patients than in the general population.…”

Asthma and the Risk of Rheumatoid Arthritis: An Insight into the Heterogeneity and Phenotypes of Asthma

“…Nonetheless, the main conceptual limitation of the current literature is a failure to recognize asthma “as a chronic inflammatory disease with systemic inflammatory features that go beyond the airway.” Emerging evidence suggests that asthma poses a significant impact on immune dysfunction and dysregulation at a systemic level in both adults and children in a way that poses them at risk for significantly higher morbidity and mortality from ARC23242526272829323334353637383940414247484950515253545657585960616263136137. In this regard, the current literature suggests that asthma poses a significantly increased risk of RA in subjects with asthma.…”

“…There are five studies available in the literature which showed no association between asthma and the risk of RA (Table 4): one population-based retrospective cohort study33, three case-control studies606162, and one cross-sectional study63.…”

“…Three case-control studies showing no association of asthma with risk of RA are all hospital-based studies606162. The largest case-control study was performed by Olsson et al61 where they recruited RA patients from two hospitals in Sweden, and controls from the general population.…”

“…These five epidemiological studies are limited in that they are underpowered6063, used imprecise definitions of exposure variables60616263, or recruited unsuitable study populations (e.g., inclusion of osteoarthritis patients as controls60 or inclusion of young adult populations who are generally not susceptible to RA33). None of these studies reported statistical power to detect the effect size of interest.…”