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
Review
. 2020 Dec 30;13(1):96.
doi: 10.3390/nu13010096.

The Role of Nutritional Factors and Intestinal Microbiota in Rheumatoid Arthritis Development

Deshiré Alpízar-Rodríguez  1 , Axel Finckh  2 , Benoît Gilbert  2
Affiliations
Review

The Role of Nutritional Factors and Intestinal Microbiota in Rheumatoid Arthritis Development

Deshiré Alpízar-Rodríguez et al. Nutrients. .

Abstract

Evidence about the role of nutritional factors and microbiota in autoimmune diseases, and in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in particular, has grown in recent years, however many controversies remain. The aim of this review is to summarize the role of nutrition and of the intestinal microbiota in the development of RA. We will focus on selected dietary patterns, individual foods and beverages that have been most consistently associated with RA or with the occurrence of systemic autoimmunity associated with RA. We will also review the evidence for a role of the intestinal microbiota in RA development. We propose that diet and digestive microbiota should be considered together in research, as they interact and may both be the target for future preventive interventions in RA.

Keywords: dietary intake; epidemiology; microbiota; nutrition; rheumatoid arthritis; risk factors.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Proposed preclinical phases of RA development. Genetic, environmental factors and systemic autoimmunity interactions lead to RA development. The progression from one preclinical phase to another is not necessarily linear, and the phases may be overlapping.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Some putative dietary factors involved in the risk of RA development and their potential effects on the microbiota. “Beneficial factors” refers to interventions that have shown modest but positive effects in established RA. BCAA—Branched Chain Amino Acids. SCFA—Short Chain Fatty Acids. P copri—Prevotella copri.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Smolen J.S., Aletaha D., Barton A., Burmester G.R., Emery P., Firestein G.S., Kavanaugh A., McInnes I.B., Solomon D.H., Strand V., et al. Rheumatoid arthritis. Nat. Rev. Dis Primers. 2018;4:18001. doi: 10.1038/nrdp.2018.1. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Klareskog L., Stolt P., Lundberg K., Källberg H., Bengtsson C., Grunewald J., Rönnelid J., Harris H.E., Ulfgren A.K., Rantapää-Dahlqvist S., et al. A new model for an etiology of rheumatoid arthritis: Smoking may trigger HLA-DR (shared epitope)-restricted immune reactions to autoantigens modified by citrullination. Arthritis Rheum. 2006;54:38–46. doi: 10.1002/art.21575. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Mankia K., Emery P. Preclinical Rheumatoid Arthritis: Progress Toward Prevention. Arthritis Rheumatol. 2016;68:779–788. doi: 10.1002/art.39603. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Svendsen A.J., Holm N.V., Kyvik K., Petersen P.H., Junker P. Relative importance of genetic effects in rheumatoid arthritis: Historical cohort study of Danish nationwide twin population. BMJ. 2002;324:264–266. doi: 10.1136/bmj.324.7332.264. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Hensvold A.H., Magnusson P.K.E., Joshua V., Hansson M., Israelsson L., Ferreira R., Jakobsson P.J., Holmdahl R., Hammarström L., Malmström V., et al. Environmental and genetic factors in the development of anticitrullinated protein antibodies (ACPAs) and ACPA-positive rheumatoid arthritis: An epidemiological investigation in twins. Ann. Rheum. Dis. 2015;74:375–380. doi: 10.1136/annrheumdis-2013-203947. - DOI - PubMed