Antibiotic Use Linked to Higher Risk for RA

Several unanswered questions noted in the published findings suggest further study related to infections themselves, alterations in the microbiota or a combination of the two.

“We’re still very much in the planning stage for next studies, but we are very keen to potentially set up a longitudinal patient cohort, following microbiome profiles over time and linking this with clinical outcomes and immune markers,” Dr. Hall adds. “We also hope to build on these studies by looking at microbiota-based therapies for further crucial patient studies, building on our expertise with mechanistic studies in preclinical and clinical intervention studies in other conditions.”

Carina Stanton is a freelance science journalist based in Denver.

References

1. Sultan AA, Mallen C, Muller S, et al. Antibiotic use and the risk of rheumatoid arthritis: A population-based, case-control study. BMC Med. 2019 Aug 7;17(1):154.
2. Arvonen M, Virta LJ, Pokka T, et al. Repeated exposure to antibiotics in infancy: A predisposing factor for juvenile idiopathic arthritis or a sign of this group’s greater susceptibility to infections? J Rheumatol. 2015;42(3):521–526.