Foods could make arthritis worse, study hints

By David Douglas

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - The production of antibodies to certain foods is "strikingly increased" in the gut of many patients with rheumatoid arthritis, Norwegian researchers report. It may be that hypersensitivity to certain foods leads to a flare-up in the joints.

Dr. Per Brandtzaeg of Rikshospitalet, Oslo and colleagues note that people with rheumatoid arthritis often feel there is an association between food intake and disease severity. He told Reuters Health that "intake of certain food stuffs could intensify the inflammatory joint reaction to produce clinical symptoms."

To investigate whether there might be some foundation for this putative association, the team studied samples of blood and intestinal fluids from 14 rheumatoid arthritis patients and 20 healthy "controls".

The researchers found that systemic and intestinal immune responses were abnormal in many rheumatoid arthritis patients. The elevated level of food antibodies in gut secretions was "particularly striking," they report in the medical journal Gut.

Specifically, the team identified antibodies to components of milk, eggs, pork and fish.

Given these findings, continued. Brandtzaeg, "Patients complaining about a relationship between what they eat and the severity of their joint disease should therefore be considered seriously and followed up with regard to avoidance of foodstuffs potentially producing adverse joint reactions."

In short, he concluded, there may be physical, immunological explanation for such complaints "rather than a mere psychological basis."

SOURCE: Gut, August 2006.