RESEARCH - Rheumatoid arthritis and estrogen

[Guest guest]

American College of Rheumatology

Embargo Date: June 3, 2004 at 12:01 AM EST

Arthritis & Rheumatism News Alert

Rheumatoid Arthritis and Estrogen

Study Sheds New Light on Relationship Between Female Hormone and Antibodies

Regulating Inflammation

Findings Suggest Need for Further Research into Impact of Estrogen Levels on

Autoimmune Diseases Among Women

Women develop various autoimmune diseases much more commonly than men.

Researchers, however, remain uncertain as to what makes women so much more

vulnerable. Lupus, for example, strikes women up to ten times more often

than men, and most often during her childbearing years. An autoimmune

disease of the joints more common than lupus, rheumatoid arthritis (RA)

affects about one in every 100 Americans, usually beginning after age

thirty. Women are two to three times more likely to suffer from RA, which

can be extremely painful and debilitating, than men.

In a recent study, conducted at Baylor College of Dentistry, a component of

the Texas A & M University System Health Science Center in Dallas, a team of

researchers took a fresh look at the role of estrogen in immune function.

This work was supported by the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial

Research and office of Research on Women's Health. Their methods and

findings, published in the June 2004 print issue of Arthritis & Rheumatism ,

and available online June 3, 2004 via Wiley InterScience (

http://www.interscience.wiley.com/journal/arthritis ) shed important new

light on how this female hormone interacts with immune cells, particularly

those present within the tissues lining the joints.

Using cell cultures, researchers investigated several specific pathways,

concentrating on estrogen and its connection to CD16, a molecule of the cell

surface that regulates inflammation. They found that when estrogen levels

decrease, CD16 levels increase. This, in turn, sets off a chain reaction of

inflammation, affecting tissues vital to the body's joints and organs. As a

result, changes in estrogen can make a woman vulnerable to RA and other

inflammatory autoimmune diseases, as well as increase the severity of her

symptoms.

This study offers implications for the further study of estrogen's role in

exacerbating the symptoms and the incidence of autoimmune diseases among

women, especially during the most dramatic times of change: postpartum and

menopause.

# # #

Article : " 17B-Estradiol Regulates Cytokine Release Through Modulation of CD

16 Expression in Monocytes and Monocyte-Derived Macrophages, " P.R. Kramer,

S. F. Kramer, and G. Guan, Arthritis & Rheumatism , Vol. 50; No. 6 June

2004; pp.1967-1975.

http://www.rheumatology.org/press/2004/estrogen0604.asp?aud=prs

Not an MD

I'll tell you where to go!

Mayo Clinic in Rochester

http://www.mayoclinic.org/rochester

s Hopkins Medicine

http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org

[Guest guest]

, This good very well be true....When I was first dx my first Rheumy

mentioned that something triggers RA to appear....For some it can happen at the

onset of puberty, other stress factors that can appear at any age, and for some

women at the other end...Yes, the M word Menopause..Mine was menopause..stands

to reason, no estrogen..thus RA...Very interesting, very interesting indeed.

Hugs

<Matsumura_Clan@...> wrote: American College of Rheumatology

Embargo Date: June 3, 2004 at 12:01 AM EST

Arthritis & Rheumatism News Alert

Rheumatoid Arthritis and Estrogen

Study Sheds New Light on Relationship Between Female Hormone and Antibodies

Regulating Inflammation

Findings Suggest Need for Further Research into Impact of Estrogen Levels on

Autoimmune Diseases Among Women

Women develop various autoimmune diseases much more commonly than men.

Researchers, however, remain uncertain as to what makes women so much more

vulnerable. Lupus, for example, strikes women up to ten times more often

than men, and most often during her childbearing years. An autoimmune

disease of the joints more common than lupus, rheumatoid arthritis (RA)

affects about one in every 100 Americans, usually beginning after age

thirty. Women are two to three times more likely to suffer from RA, which

can be extremely painful and debilitating, than men.

In a recent study, conducted at Baylor College of Dentistry, a component of

the Texas A & M University System Health Science Center in Dallas, a team of

researchers took a fresh look at the role of estrogen in immune function.

This work was supported by the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial

Research and office of Research on Women's Health. Their methods and

findings, published in the June 2004 print issue of Arthritis & Rheumatism ,

and available online June 3, 2004 via Wiley InterScience (

http://www.interscience.wiley.com/journal/arthritis ) shed important new

light on how this female hormone interacts with immune cells, particularly

those present within the tissues lining the joints.

Using cell cultures, researchers investigated several specific pathways,

concentrating on estrogen and its connection to CD16, a molecule of the cell

surface that regulates inflammation. They found that when estrogen levels

decrease, CD16 levels increase. This, in turn, sets off a chain reaction of

inflammation, affecting tissues vital to the body's joints and organs. As a

result, changes in estrogen can make a woman vulnerable to RA and other

inflammatory autoimmune diseases, as well as increase the severity of her

symptoms.

This study offers implications for the further study of estrogen's role in

exacerbating the symptoms and the incidence of autoimmune diseases among

women, especially during the most dramatic times of change: postpartum and

menopause.

# # #

Article : " 17B-Estradiol Regulates Cytokine Release Through Modulation of CD

16 Expression in Monocytes and Monocyte-Derived Macrophages, " P.R. Kramer,

S. F. Kramer, and G. Guan, Arthritis & Rheumatism , Vol. 50; No. 6 June

2004; pp.1967-1975.

http://www.rheumatology.org/press/2004/estrogen0604.asp?aud=prs

Not an MD

I'll tell you where to go!

Mayo Clinic in Rochester

http://www.mayoclinic.org/rochester

s Hopkins Medicine

http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org