Long-term intake of dietary long-chain n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids and risk of rheumatoid arthritis: a prospective cohort study of women

摘要

Division of Nutritional Epidemiology, Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Instituted Stockholm, Sweden Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic inflammatory disease of joints affecting ~0.8% of the adult population. RA development is influenced by both genetic and environmental factors, but besides smoking and alcohol consumption, little is known about other important modifiable risk factors. Some dietary fatty acids, including long-chain n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), are precursors of eicosanoids. Eicosanoids derived from long-chain n-3 PUFAs have been shown to have anti-inflammatory properties.