Arthritis care & research
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Arthritis care & research · Dec 2013
Multicenter StudyAssociation of tobacco exposure and reduction of radiographic progression in early rheumatoid arthritis: results from a French multicenter cohort.
To investigate the initial response to treatment and risk of radiographic disease progression in current smokers (S), ex-smokers (EX), and nonsmokers (NS) in a prospective early arthritis cohort and to analyze the influence of smoking cessation on arthritis outcome. ⋯ In this large prospective cohort of patients with early arthritis, smoking status had no significant effect on disease activity and disability but did reduce 1-year radiographic disease progression. The antiinflammatory role of nicotine may explain the lower systemic inflammation and structural disease progression in current smokers with early RA.