ArticleBMC medicine2019
Antibiotic use and the risk of rheumatoid arthritis: a population-based case-control study.
Article in BMC medicine, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 31 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
31 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 48 citations in OpenAlex.
- Bidirectional association between rheumatoid arthritis and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Frontiers in immunology · 2024Pooled it
- A retrospectively registered pilot randomized controlled trial of postbiotic administration during antibiotic treatment increases microbiome diversity and enriches health-associated taxa.Infection and immunity · 2026Trial
- Gut microbiota in early and established stages of rheumatoid arthritis: from pathogenesis to promising prevention and treatment.Annals of medicine · 2026Review
- The Impact of Oral-Gut Microbiota Structure and Its Manipulation on RA Development and Management.Food science & nutrition · 2026Review
- Gut microbe-derived short-chain fatty acids regulate alphavirus arthritis and macrophage activation in mice.The Journal of clinical investigation · 2026Article
- Association of Antibiotic Use and New-Onset ICD Coding of Geographic Atrophy.Investigative ophthalmology & visual science · 2026Article
- Gut Microbiota and Extraintestinal Cancers: Mechanistic Insights and Microbiome-Targeted Interventions.JGH open : an open access journal of gastroenterology and hepatology · 2026Review
- Rheumatoid Arthritis: A Comprehensive Review of Etiology, Pathophysiology, and Innovative Therapeutic Advancements.Current pharmaceutical design · 2026Review
- Article
- Association of antibiotic use with rheumatoid arthritis: A Mendelian randomization study.Medicine · 2025Article
- Hospital-Treated Infections and 15-year Incidence of Musculoskeletal Disorders: A Large Population-Based Cohort Study.Clinical epidemiology · 2025Article
- Role of Gut Microbiota in the Development of Some Autoimmune Diseases.Journal of inflammation research · 2025Review
- Intestinal Permeability In Subjects With Rheumatoid Arthritis: A Critical Therapeutic Priority.Integrative medicine (Encinitas, Calif.) · 2024Review
- Broad-spectrum antibiotics disrupt homeostatic efferocytosis.Nature metabolism · 2024Article
- Inflammatory Bowel Disease-Associated Arthritis Is Associated with Concomitant Autoimmune and Inflammatory Disorders.Digestive diseases and sciences · 2024Article
- Article
- Secrets and lies of host-microbial interactions: MHC restriction and trans-regulation of T cell trafficking conceal the role of microbial agents on the edge between health and multifactorial/complex diseases.Cellular and molecular life sciences : CMLS · 2024Review
- Understanding the role of the gut microbiome in solid tumor responses to immune checkpoint inhibitors for personalized therapeutic strategies: a review.Frontiers in immunology · 2024Review
- The Association of Antibiotic Use and the Odds of a New-Onset ICD Code Diagnosis of Age-Related Macular Degeneration: A Large National Case-Control Study.Investigative ophthalmology & visual science · 2023Article
- Repeated antibiotic exposure and risk of hospitalisation and death following COVID-19 infection (OpenSAFELY): a matched case-control study.EClinicalMedicine · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundAntibiotic-induced disturbances of the human microbiota have been implicated in the development of chronic autoimmune conditions. This study aimed to assess whether antibiotic use is associated with the onset of rheumatoid arthritis (RA).
methodsA nested case-control study was conducted utilising data from the primary care Clinical Practice Research Datalink (CPRD). Patients with an incident diagnosis of RA were identified (1995-2017). Each case was matched on age, gender, and general practice to ≥ 5 controls without RA. Conditional logistic regression was used to examine previous antibiotic prescriptions and RA onset after controlling for confounding factors.
resultsWe identified 22,677 cases of RA, matched to 90,013 controls, with a median follow-up of 10 years before RA diagnosis. The odds of developing RA were 60% higher in those exposed to antibiotics than in those not exposed (OR 1.60; 95% CI 1.51-1.68). A dose- or frequency-dependent association was observed between the number of previous antibiotic prescriptions and RA. All classes of antibiotics were associated with higher odds of RA, with bactericidal antibiotics carrying higher risk than bacteriostatic (45% vs. 31%). Those with antibiotic-treated upper respiratory tract (URT) infections were more likely to be RA cases. However, this was not observed for URT infections not treated with antibiotics. Antifungal (OR = 1.27; 95% CI 1.20-1.35) and antiviral (OR = 1.19; 95% CI 1.14-1.24) prescriptions were also associated with increased odds of RA.
conclusionAntibiotic prescriptions are associated with a higher risk of RA. This may be due to microbiota disturbances or underlying infections driving risk. Further research is needed to explore these mechanisms.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.