STUDY - MEN WITH ARTHRITIS

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Hormone Tied to Inflammation in Men with Arthritis

NEW YORK - Levels of estradiol are strongly associated with inflammation in men with rheumatoid arthritis, according to a recent report by Swedish investigators. Levels of other sex hormones are altered in men with the disease, but only estradiol was consistently linked to inflammation.

"A very interesting issue is whether any of the hormonal aberrations found in our study preceded the onset of rheumatoid arthritis," the researchers state.

"Decreased levels of these immune suppressive hormones might play a role in the development of rheumatoid arthritis, but further research is needed to resolve this issue," they add.

The study, led by Dr. Birgitta Tengstrand, from Huddinge University Hospital in Stockholm, is published in The Journal of Rheumatology. The team's findings are based on a study of 101 men with rheumatoid arthritis.

Inflammatory activity and degree of disability were determined in all patients using standard measures. Levels of estradiol, estrone, and dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) were measured in the patients and in healthy comparison subjects.

The researchers found that DHEA and estrone levels were lower in arthritis patients than in comparison subjects. Conversely, estradiol levels were higher in arthritis patients than in comparison subjects.

Estrone levels did not correlate with any markers of inflammation, the authors found. DHEA levels correlated with some markers but only in patients lacking a protein called "rheumatoid factor". Estradiol levels, however, consistently correlated with all markers of inflammation.

SOURCE: Journal of Rheumatology, November 2003.