Smoking is associated with the concurrent presence of multiple autoantibodies in rheumatoid arthritis rather than with anti-citrullinated protein antibodies per se: a multicenter cohort study

Background The contribution of smoking to rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is hypothesized to be mediated through formation of anti-citrullinated protein antibodies (ACPA). In RA, however, autoantibodies such as ACPA, rheumatoid factor (RF), and anti-carbamylated protein antibodies (anti-CarP) often occur together, and it is thus unclear whether smoking is specifically associated with some autoantibodies rather than others. We therefore investigated whether smoking is only associated with ACPA or with the presence of multiple RA-related autoantibodies. Methods A population-based Japanese cohort (n =... Mehr ...