Open AccessDetermining in which pre-arthritis stage HLA-shared epitope alleles and smoking exert their effect on the development of rheumatoid arthritis
Author(s) -
Fenne Wouters,
M. Maurits,
Laurette van Boheemen,
M. Verstappen,
Kulveer Mankia,
Xanthe M E Matthijssen,
Annemarie L. Dorjée,
Paul Emery,
Rachel Knevel,
Dirkjan van Schaardenburg,
René Toes,
Annette H M van der Helm–van Mil
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
annals of the rheumatic diseases
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 6.333
H-Index - 240
eISSN - 1468-2060
pISSN - 0003-4967
DOI - 10.1136/annrheumdis-2021-220546
Subject(s) - medicine , autoantibody , asymptomatic , rheumatoid arthritis , immunology , rheumatoid factor , arthritis , population , human leukocyte antigen , antibody , antigen , environmental health
The human leukocyte antigen-shared epitope (HLA-SE) alleles and smoking are the most prominent genetic and environmental risk factors for rheumatoid arthritis (RA). However, at which pre-arthritis stage (asymptomatic/symptomatic) they exert their effect is unknown. We aimed to determine whether HLA-SE and smoking are involved in the onset of autoantibody positivity, symptoms (clinically suspect arthralgia (CSA)) and/or progression to clinical arthritis.