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. 2017 Oct 13;12(10):e0186157.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0186157. eCollection 2017.

Sodium excretion is higher in patients with rheumatoid arthritis than in matched controls

Sarah Marouen  1 , Guilhem du Cailar  2 , Rachel Audo  1   3 , Cedric Lukas  1 , Gaelle Vial  4 , Anne Tournadre  4 , Emmanuel Barrat  5 , Jean Ribstein  2 , Bernard Combe  1   3 , Jacques Morel  1   3 , Claire I Daien  1   3
Affiliations

Sodium excretion is higher in patients with rheumatoid arthritis than in matched controls

Sarah Marouen et al. PLoS One. .

Abstract

Objective: It was shown that sodium can promote auto-immunity through the activation of the Th17 pathway. We aimed to compare sodium intake in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) vs. matched controls.

Methods: This case-control study included 24 patients with RA at diagnosis and 24 controls matched by age, gender and body mass index. Sodium intake was evaluated by 24-hr urinary sodium excretion.

Results: Sodium excretion was greater for patients with early RA (2,849±1,350 vs. 2,182±751.7mg/day, p = 0.039) than controls. This difference remained significant after adjustment for smoking and the use of anti-hypertensive and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (p = 0.043). Patients with radiographic erosion at the time of diagnosis had a higher sodium excretion than those without (p = 0.028).

Conclusion: Patients with early RA showed increased sodium excretion which may have contributed to autoimmunity.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist. This work was supported by the Passerelle grant (Pfizer). This does not alter our adherence to PLOS ONE policies on sharing data and materials. The funder had no role in the study design, performance, data analysis or decision to publish.

Figures

Fig 1
Fig 1. Sodium excretion was higher in patients with early RA than in matched controls.
Sodium intake was assessed by 24-hr urinary sodium excretion. Horizontal bars are means and whiskers are SEM. Student t test was used.
Fig 2
Fig 2. Sodium excretion was higher in early RA patients with erosions than in those without.
Horizontal bars are median and whiskers are IQR compared by Mann-Whitney test.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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