Alcohol consumption reduces the risk of development of Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) and significantly attenuates the development of erosive arthritis in animal models. It remains unknown whether alcohol consumption influences joint damage progression in RA.
| To compare the rates of radiographic damage progression in alcohol drinkers (D) and non-drinkers (ND) in a large prospective RA cohort. 2908 RA patients with a mean of 4 sequential radiographs and 3.9 years of follow-up were included. A trend towards reduced radiographic progression existed in D compared to ND, with  ERO of 0.99% (0.89-1.09) and 1.13% (1.00-1.26) at one year respectively.Alcohol consumption displayed a  J-shaped dose response effect, with a more favorable evolution in occasional consumers (p=0.01) and daily consumers (p=0.001), compared to non-drinkers, while heavy-drinkers demonstrated worse radiographic evolution (p=0.0001).We found significant effect modification by sex, with male D displaying significantly less ERO compared to male ND (0.86% (0.70-1.03) versus 1.35% (1.02-1.67), p=0.007).A trend towards reduced radiographic progression was observed in alcohol drinkers compared to non-drinkers, specifically in occasional and daily alcohol consumers, and in particular, male RA patients who consume alcohol demonstrate less radiographic progression than male non-drinkers. Read Full Abstract Request Reprint E-Mail: Michael.J.Nissen@hcuge.ch ____________________________________________ |
