Inverse association between air pressure and rheumatoid arthritis synovitis.
Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a bone destructive autoimmune disease. Many patients with RA recognize fluctuations of their joint synovitis according to changes of air pressure, but the correlations between them have never been addressed in large-scale association studies. To address this point we recruited large-scale assessments of RA activity in a Japanese population, and performed an association analysis. Here, a total of 23,064 assessments of RA activity from 2,131 patients were obtained from the KURAMA (Kyoto University Rheumatoid Arthritis Management Alliance) database. Detailed correlations between air pressure and joint swelling or tenderness were analyzed separately for each of the 326 patients with more than 20 assessments to regulate intra-patient correlations. Association studies were also performed for seven consecutive days to identify the strongest correlations. Standardized multiple linear regression analysis was performed to evaluate independent influences from other meteorological factors. As a result, components of composite measures for RA disease activity revealed suggestive negative associations with air pressure. The 326 patients displayed significant negative mean correlations between air pressure and swellings or the sum of swellings and tenderness (p = 0.00068 and 0.00011, respectively). Among the seven consecutive days, the most significant mean negative correlations were observed for air pressure three days before evaluations of RA synovitis (p = 1.7 × 10(-7), 0.00027, and 8.3 × 10(-8), for swellings, tenderness and the sum of them, respectively). Standardized multiple linear regression analysis revealed these associations were independent from humidity and temperature. Our findings suggest that air pressure is inversely associated with synovitis in patients with RA.
Center for Genomic Medicine, Kyoto University Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto, Japan.
Chikashi
C
Terao
Department of the Control for Rheumatic Diseases, Kyoto University Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto, Japan.
Motomu
M
Hashimoto
Department of the Control for Rheumatic Diseases, Kyoto University Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto, Japan.
Moritoshi
M
Furu
Department of Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology, Kyoto University Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto, Japan.
Shuichiro
S
Nakabo
Department of Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology, Kyoto University Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto, Japan.
Koichiro
K
Ohmura
Department of Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology, Kyoto University Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto, Japan.
Ran
R
Nakashima
Department of Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology, Kyoto University Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto, Japan.
Yoshitaka
Y
Imura
Department of Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology, Kyoto University Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto, Japan.
Naoichiro
N
Yukawa
Department of Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology, Kyoto University Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto, Japan.
Hajime
H
Yoshifuji
Center for Genomic Medicine, Kyoto University Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto, Japan.
Fumihiko
F
Matsuda
Department of the Control for Rheumatic Diseases, Kyoto University Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto, Japan.
Hiromu
H
Ito
Department of the Control for Rheumatic Diseases, Kyoto University Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto, Japan.
Takao
T
Fujii
Department of Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology, Kyoto University Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto, Japan.
Tsuneyo
T
Mimori
D000368:Aged; D001172:Arthritis, Rheumatoid / Q000503:physiopathology*; D001274:Atmospheric Pressure; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D013585:Synovitis / Q000503:physiopathology*