Alcohol Decreases Arthritis in Mice

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Mice that drank water with alcohol content comparable to wine were diagnosed with dramatically fewer cases of rheumatoid arthritis than others, a study found.

The mice, injected with an arthritis-causing compound, drank the ethanol mixture for about a month and showed fewer signs of the bone and cartilage destruction associated with severe arthritis.

" It could inhibit the growth of arthritis, but more importantly, the development of severe arthritis, which is characterized by the destruction of the skeleton, " said Andrej Tarkowski of Goteborg University in Sweden.

Alcohol consumption depresses the immune system, which attacks joints and bones in people with rheumatoid arthritis, causing chronic inflammation.

Researchers wrote in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences that they injected 52 mice with a chemical that induces arthritis development. Over four weeks, five of the 25 mice that drank the ethanol developed arthritis, while 23 of the 27 mice that drank water got the disease.

Mice may metabolize alcohol differently than humans, so it is impossible to determine how similar consumption would affect people with arthritis, Tarkowski said.