Motor Oil Raises Arthritis Risk

5 October 2005

Exposure to motor oils or hydraulic oils increases the risk of getting two types of rheumatoid arthritis, researchers from Sweden’s Karolinksa Institute have found in a study* which supports earlier work which showed increased arthritis in rats exposed to mineral oils.

The research studied 1419 patients diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis between May 1996 and December 2003 with age and sex matched controls.

Oil exposure was found to increase the risk of RF-positive arthritis by 30% and the risk of anticitrulline-positive RA by 60%.

The researchers noted that mineral oils activate the immune system, primarily the lymph nodes, and they speculated that this could trigger the activation of a cascade of events involving activated T lymphocytes which for as yet unknown reasons results in inflammatory joint disease.


Source:

• Sverdrup B et al. Association between occupational exposure to mineral oil and rheumatoid arthritis: results from the Swedish EIRA case-control study.
  Arthritis Research & Therapy 2005; &:R1296-R1303
  

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