Article
Relationship among the HLA-DRB1 shared epitope, smoking, and rheumatoid factor production in rheumatoid arthritis.
Arthritis and rheumatism - 1 Aug 2002
Mattey Derek L, Dawes Peter T, Clarke Sheila, Fisher June, Brownfield Ann, Thomson Wendy, Hajeer Ali H, Ollier William E R
Abstract excerpt
OBJECTIVE: Rheumatoid factor (RF) production in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is generally associated with more severe disease. In some studies, RF production has been associated with carriage of HLA-DRB1 alleles encoding the RA-associated shared epitope (SE). Patients who smoke are also more likely to be RF positive. In this study, we investigated whether the association between RF production and smoking was...
Read the complete abstract on PubMedTopics
Share this publication in a Topic to start or enrich a Post.