Cookies on this website

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you click 'Accept all cookies' we'll assume that you are happy to receive all cookies and you won't see this message again. If you click 'Reject all non-essential cookies' only necessary cookies providing core functionality such as security, network management, and accessibility will be enabled. Click 'Find out more' for information on how to change your cookie settings.

OBJECTIVE: To test the hypothesis that cigarette smoking is associated with susceptibility to rheumatoid arthritis (RA) by comparing smoking history between twins with RA and their unaffected co-twins. METHODS: Interview questionnaires on smoking history were administered to 79 identical (monozygotic [MZ]) and 71 same-sex nonidentical (dizygotic, [DZ]) twin pairs who were discordant for RA, recruited from the Arthritis and Rheumatism Council Twin Study. Results were expressed as odds ratios (OR) with 95% confidence intervals (95% CI). RESULTS: Although most twin pairs were concordant for smoking history, there was a strong association between ever smoking and RA in the MZ pairs (OR 12.0, 95% CI 1.78-513), with a similar trend observed in the DZ pairs (OR 2.5, 95% CI 0.92-7.87). CONCLUSION: The discordance in cigarette smoking history for individuals who are at presumed identical genetic risk for RA supports other data suggesting the role of smoking in disease susceptibility.

Type

Journal article

Journal

Arthritis rheum

Publication Date

05/1996

Volume

39

Pages

732 - 735

Keywords

Arthritis, Rheumatoid, Disease Susceptibility, Diseases in Twins, Female, Humans, Male, Risk Factors, Smoking, Twins, Dizygotic, Twins, Monozygotic