Adult Vaccinations Do Not Appear to Be Linked to Development of RA

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Adult Vaccinations Do Not Appear to Be Linked to Development of RA:

Presented at ACR/ARHP

http://www.docguide.com/news/content.nsf/news/852576140048867C852577D80075F111

ATLANTA -- November 11, 2010 -- A study involving more than 4,000

individuals with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in Sweden appears to ease

concerns that the painful disease may be triggered by adult vaccination,

researchers said here at the 2010 Annual Scientific Meeting of the American

College of Rheumatology/Association of Rheumatology Health Professionals

(ACR/ARHP).

" We found no association between vaccination and the development of

rheumatoid arthritis, " said Camilla Bengtsson, PhD, Institute of

Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden, on November

8. " Furthermore, we found no association between any specific vaccine and

the risk of developing rheumatoid arthritis. "

The researchers ruled out an association between RA and vaccinations for

influenza, tetanus, diphtheria, tick-borne encephalitis, hepatitis, polio,

and pneumococcal infections.

The researchers compared RA rates among 1,998 individuals with RA and 2,252

individuals where were selected at random. About 31% of each group had

undergone vaccination about 5 years earlier.

" In our case-control study including incident cases of newly diagnosed RA,

no increased risk of RA following immunisation was observed, at least not in

the 5 years prior to disease onset, " said Dr. Bengtsson, noting that the

study is ongoing.

In addition to scrutinising the crude vaccination-rheumatoid arthritis

relationship, Dr. Bengtsson and colleagues also looked to see if vaccination

might impact certain sub-populations of the rheumatoid arthritis cohort who

had more susceptible subtypes.

Patients with RA with or without antibodies to citrullinated peptides

appeared to have no greater risk of RA whether they had received a

vaccination or not.

Dr. Bengtsson also reviewed possible interactions between vaccination and

patients with RA who exhibited the HLA-DRB1 SE allele. Patients with this

allele have an increased risk of developing RA, but in this study there was

no apparent association between vaccination and development of RA.

Dr. Bengtsson explained that some research in rodents suggested the

adjuvants used in many vaccines might affect the development of RA.

" There have been concerns that vaccines by their very nature stimulate the

immune system, " said Alan K. Matsumoto, MD, Arthritis and Rheumatism

Associates, Washington, DC, who moderated the press briefing. " So,

theoretically that could drive inflammation and increase the risk of

rheumatoid arthritis. The current study is very powerful due its large size.

For those who had concerns, [the results of the study] should be

reassuring. "

The researchers used data from the Epidemiological Investigation of

Rheumatoid Arthritis, an ongoing, population-based, case-control study in

Sweden designed to investigate associations between genes as well as

environmental factors and the risk of developing RA.

[Presentation title: Common Vaccinations Among Adults and the Risk of

Developing Rheumatoid Arthritis: Results From the Swedish EIRA Study.

Abstract 645]