Effect of alcohol consumption and smoking on disease damage in systemic lupus erythematosus: data from the Korean Lupus Network (KORNET) registry

• Published in: Lupus Vol. 26; no. 14; pp. 1540 - 1549
• Main Authors: Kim, S-K, Lee, S-S, Choe, J-Y, Park, S-H, Lee, H
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London, England SAGE Publications 01.12.2017; Sage Publications Ltd
• Subjects: Adult; Alcohol Drinking - adverse effects; Alcohol Drinking - epidemiology; Alcohol use; Female; Health risk assessment; Humans; Logistic Models; Lupus; Lupus Erythematosus, Systemic - physiopathology; Male; Middle Aged; Registries; Republic of Korea; Severity of Illness Index; Skin - pathology; Smoking; Smoking - epidemiology; Systemic lupus erythematosus; alcohol; SLICC damage index; Systemic lupus erythematosus; cutaneous lesion; smoking
• ISSN: 0961-2033; 1477-0962
• DOI: 10.1177/0961203317709346

Background We assessed correlations of smoking habits and alcohol consumption with disease activity or damage in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Methods A total of 505 patients with SLE were enrolled in the Korean Lupus Network (KORNET) SLE registry from January 2014 to January 2016. Disease activity and organ damage were measured by the SLE Disease Activity Index 2000 (SLEDAI-2K) and the Systemic Lupus International Collaborating Clinics/American College of Rheumatology (SLICC/ACR) damage index, respectively. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to analyze associations with cutaneous lesions. Results There were no differences in SLEDAI-2K and SLICC/ACR damage indices according to either smoking status or alcohol consumption. More frequent cutaneous damage was observed in current alcohol drinkers compared with non-current alcohol drinkers (p = 0.020). Cutaneous damage was significantly associated with alcohol consumption (odds ratio (OR) 4.048, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.251–12.102, p = 0.020). Both low (1–5 glasses/week) and high (≥6 glasses/week) amounts of alcohol consumption had a significant impact on cutaneous damage compared with the absence of current alcohol consumption (p = 0.033 and p = 0.027, respectively). Pairwise comparison of alcohol consumption and smoking status with cutaneous damage showed that only alcohol consumption was significantly associated with the presence of cutaneous damage, compared with non-current alcohol consumption and non-current smoking (OR 3.513, 95% CI 1.130–10.920, p =0.030). Conclusions Current alcohol consumption, but not smoking, might influence the development of cutaneous damage in patients with SLE.