RESEARCH- Silica exposure is associated with an increased risk of developing rheumatoid arthritis: results from the Swedish EIRA study

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Ann Rheum Dis. 2005 Apr;64(4):582-6. Epub 2004 Aug 19.

Silica exposure is associated with increased risk of developing

rheumatoid arthritis: results from the Swedish EIRA study.Stolt P,

Källberg H, Lundberg I, Sjögren B, Klareskog L, Alfredsson L; EIRA

study group.

Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Box 210,

S-171 77 Stockholm, Sweden.

OBJECTIVE: To study the association between silica exposure and

rheumatoid arthritis and how it is modified by cigarette smoking.

METHODS: Data were analysed from 276 male cases and 276 male controls

aged 18 to 70 years, included in a Swedish population based study

between May 1996 and June 2001. A case was defined as a person

recently diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis according to the ACR

criteria. Controls were selected from the study base as a stratified

random sample accounting for age, sex, and residency. Men with a self

reported history of work with rock drilling, stone crushing, or

exposure to stone dust in general were defined as silica exposed.

Rheumatoid factor (RF) status among cases was recorded. RESULTS:

Silica exposed men had increased risk of rheumatoid arthritis, with an

odds ratio (OR), adjusted for age, residential area, and smoking, of

2.2 (95% confidence interval, 1.2 to 3.9) among men aged 18 to 70

years, and 2.7 (1.2 to 5.8) among those aged 50 to 70 years. Men who

had worked with rock drilling or stone crushing (regarded as highly

exposed) had a slightly greater increase in risk of rheumatoid

arthritis than silica exposed men in general, with an OR of 3.0 (1.2

to 7.6). The joint effects of silica exposure and smoking were

compatible with synergy between these two exposures in the development

of rheumatoid arthritis but this was not conclusive.

CONCLUSIONS: Silica exposure is associated with increased risk of

developing rheumatoid arthritis. This association is not explained by

smoking habits.

PMID: 15319232

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15319232?ordinalpos=1 & itool=EntrezSystem2.PEn\

trez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_RVDocSum

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