Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2021 Sep;27(6):1443-1450.
doi: 10.1111/odi.13659. Epub 2020 Dec 30.

Risk of autoimmune diseases in recurrent aphthous ulcer patients: A nationwide population study

Young Chan Lee  1 , Su Jin Jeong  2 , Young-Gyu Eun  1 , Ran Song  3 , In-Hwan Oh  4
Affiliations

Risk of autoimmune diseases in recurrent aphthous ulcer patients: A nationwide population study

Young Chan Lee et al. Oral Dis. 2021 Sep.

Abstract

Objective: To estimate the risk of developing autoimmune disease in patients diagnosed having recurrent aphthous stomatitis (RAS) through a nationwide population-based cohort study.

Methods: This study included two group of patients who had three or more episodes with aphthae diagnosed from their physician (RAS group) and a similar matched group of patients without aphthae (control group). Both groups were collected within the period of 2005-2007 from the Korean National Health Insurances claims database. Non-RAS cohort was matched after frequency matching. The final enrolled subjects were observed during a follow-up period from 2008 to 2015 and those who received autoimmune diseases diagnoses during follow-up were identified. The hazard ratio (HR) for developing autoimmune diseases was estimated.

Results: A total of 4,637 patients with RAS and 4,637 controls were included. The risk of overall autoimmune diseases was significantly increased in the RAS group (adjusted HR [aHR)], 1.19). With regard to each disease entity, patients with RAS showed an increased risk of Behcet's disease (31.16), systemic lupus erythematous (SLE) (1.74), ankylosing spondylitis (AS) (1.47), gout (1.47), Hashimoto thyroiditis (1.42), Graves' disease (1.37), and rheumatoid arthritis (RA) (1.19).

Conclusion: RAS-like lesion may be an early sign of systemic autoimmune disease, as it was associated with an increased risk of Graves' disease, Hashimoto thyroiditis, SLE, AS, gout, RA, and Behcet's disease from real-world data.

Keywords: aphthous like lesions; autoimmune disease; hazard ratio; nationwide population-based study; recurrent aphthous stomatitis.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

REFERENCES

    1. Abbood, H. M., Pathan, E., & Cherukara, G. P. (2018). The link between ankylosing spondylitis and oral health conditions: Two nested case-control studies using data of the UK Biobank. Journal of Applied Oral Science: Revista FOB, 27, e20180207.
    1. Alikhani, M., Ghalaiani, P., Askariyan, E., Khunsaraki, Z. A., Tavangar, A., & Naderi, A. (2017). Association between the clinical severity of oral lichen planus and anti-TPO level in thyroid patients. Brazilian Oral Research, 31, e10.
    1. Alpsoy, E., Donmez, L., Onder, M., Gunasti, S., Usta, A., Karincaoglu, Y., Kandi, B., Buyukkara, S., Keseroglu, O., Uzun, S., Tursen, U., Seyhan, M., & Akman, A. (2007). Clinical features and natural course of Behçet's disease in 661 cases: A multicentre study. British Journal of Dermatology, 157, 901-906.
    1. Baccaglini, L., Lalla, R. V., Bruce, A. J., Sartori-Valinotti, J. C., Latortue, M. C., Carrozzo, M., & Rogers, R. S. 3rd (2011). Urban legends: Recurrent aphthous stomatitis. Oral Diseases, 17, 755-770.
    1. Bilgili, S. G., Ozkol, H., Takci, Z., Ozkol, H. U., Karadag, A. S., & Aslan, M. (2013). Assessment of the serum paraoxonase activity and oxidant/antioxidant status in patients with recurrent aphthous stomatitis. International Journal of Dermatology, 52, 1259-1264.