Eczema and allergic asthma are associated with an increased risk of osteoarthritis.
According to study published online in the Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases, people with atopic (allergic) disorders like asthma or eczema may have a higher chance of developing osteoarthritis, a painful and frequently crippling joint ailment.
According to the researchers, medications that are intended to block the body’s physiological cues for allergic responses may help lower this risk.
The most prevalent kind of arthritis is osteoarthritis. But despite the disease’s great frequency, expensive expenses, and crippling effects, there is still no reliable treatment. The management of symptoms is the main focus of treatment.
A growing body of research indicates that the development of osteoarthritis may be significantly influenced by the activation of a kind of white blood cell known as mast cells and inflammatory chemicals (cytokines) associated with allergic responses. Nevertheless, it’s unclear if those who have eczema or allergic asthma may be more susceptible to the illness.
The Optum CDM database of insurance claims submitted in the United States between January 2003 and June 2019 as well as electronic health records from the Stanford Research Repository (STARR) for the years 2010 to 2020 were used by the researchers to answer this question.
A total of 1,247,196 persons without atopic illness (average age 50; 48% women) and 117,346 people with allergic asthma or eczema (average age 52; 60% women) were found in the insurance claims database.
For age, sex, race/ethnicity, education level, underlying illnesses, duration of monitoring period, and outpatient visits, 109,899 individuals with atopic disease were matched with 109,899 individuals without allergic asthma or eczema.
Throughout an average observation period of 8 years, people with allergic asthma or eczema had a 58% greater chance of developing osteoarthritis than those without atopic illness. In other words, if 100 individuals with and without atopic illness were followed for 10 years apiece, there would be 27 new cases as opposed to 19 new instances.
These 4,325 individuals were twice as likely to develop osteoarthritis as those without atopic illness, which made this pattern much more obvious.
In a similar vein, throughout an 8-year period, individuals with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), a lung condition that doesn’t include allergic pathways, had an 83% higher risk of developing osteoarthritis than the 11,820 persons with allergic asthma alone.
The researchers next looked at the STARR health records to evaluate the risk of osteoarthritis in those with and without allergic asthma/eczema.
The study included 114,427 participants, consisting of 43,728 individuals with allergic asthma or eczema and 70,699 individuals with no history of atopic disease. The dataset included information on weight (BMI), a significant risk factor for osteoarthritis.
After adjusting for BMI, the results showed that the odds of developing osteoarthritis were 42% higher among those with allergic asthma or eczema, and 19% higher among those with both conditions.
The researchers noted several limitations to the study, including the reliance on insurance claims data for part of the study, which didn’t include information on potentially influential factors such as BMI, previous joint injury, or physical activity levels. The observed associations were weaker among the STARR participants, for whom information on BMI was available, suggesting that other factors may be involved.
In addition, no information was available on the severity of atopic disease or osteoarthritis, or the use of common over-the-counter remedies, which could have influenced the findings.
Despite these limitations, the researchers concluded that patients with atopic disease are at an increased risk of developing osteoarthritis compared to the general population. They suggest that mast cells and type II cytokines may play important roles in the pathogenesis of osteoarthritis, not just in patients with atopic disease.
The researchers recommend that treatments that inhibit mast cells and allergic cytokines could be used to treat or prevent osteoarthritis in both atopic and non-atopic patients.
