Could High BMI Decrease RA Risk?

High body mass index was linked to a decreased risk of developing rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in men, but not in women, according to a recent study.

While known risk factors for RA include smoking, genetics, and environmental factors, several studies have proposed that BMI could influence RA development in patients.
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To test this theory, researchers evaluated 2 population-based health surveys consisting of 30,447 and 33,346 participants, respectively.

“Matched controls were selected from the corresponding health survey data-base. The impact of overweight obesity (BMI>25 kg/m2) compared with normal BMI (18.5-25 kg/m2) on the risk of RA was examined in conditional logistic regression models, stratified by sex,” explained the study’s authors.

Overall, 172 individuals from the first study (36 men and 136 women) and 290 from the second study (151 men and 139 women) were diagnosed with RA during the course of the study.

In both cohorts, being overweight at the time of inclusion in the health surveys was associated with a decreased risk of subsequent RA development in men, but not in women.

“These findings implicate metabolic pathways related to adipose tissue and hormone-related factors in the development of RA. Investigation of adipokines and other biomarkers in male and female pre-RA subjects and their association with hormone-related exposures may shed further light on the pathogenesis of RA.”

The complete study is published in the September issue of Rheumatology.

-Michelle Canales

Reference:
Turesson C, Bergstrom U, Pikwer M, et al. A high body mass index is associated with reduced risk of rheumatoid arthritis in men, but not in women. Rheumatology. 2015 September [epub ahead of print] doi: 10.1093/rheumatology/kev313.