ACR Meeting Abstracts

ACR Meeting Abstracts

  • Meetings
    • ACR Convergence 2024
    • ACR Convergence 2023
    • 2023 ACR/ARP PRSYM
    • ACR Convergence 2022
    • ACR Convergence 2021
    • ACR Convergence 2020
    • 2020 ACR/ARP PRSYM
    • 2019 ACR/ARP Annual Meeting
    • 2018-2009 Meetings
    • Download Abstracts
  • Keyword Index
  • Advanced Search
  • Your Favorites
    • Favorites
    • Login
    • View and print all favorites
    • Clear all your favorites
  • ACR Meetings

Abstract Number: 1606

Identifying a Link Between Uranium Exposure and Systemic Lupus Erythematosus in a Community Living near a Uranium Plant

Pai-Yue Lu1, Leah C. Kottyan2, Susan M. Pinney3, Judith A. James4, Changchun Xie3, Jeanette M. Buckholz3 and John B. Harley5, 1Pediatric Rheumatology, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH, 2Center for Autoimmune Genomics and Etiology, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH, 3Department of Environmental Health, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH, 4Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation, Oklahoma City, OK, 5Division of Rheumatology and The Center for Autoimmune Genomics & Etiology, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center; US Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH

Meeting: 2012 ACR/ARHP Annual Meeting

Keywords: Environmental factors and systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE)

  • Tweet
  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window) Email
  • Click to print (Opens in new window) Print
Session Information

Title: Epidemiology and Health Services Research II: Epidemiologic Risk Factors in the Development of Rheumatic Disease

Session Type: Abstract Submissions (ACR)

Background/Purpose: Effects of environmental exposures on the development of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) are potentially important and relatively unexplored in SLE pathogenesis. An excess of reported SLE cases in a community surrounding a former uranium ore processing plant provided an opportunity to evaluate the relationship between uranium exposure through downstream air or water and SLE. Our specific a priori objective was to explore the hypothesis that SLE patients will be found more frequently in community members exposed to high prior uranium exposure levels in the Fernald Community Cohort (FCC).

Methods: A nested case control study was performed with data from the FCC. The FCC is comprised of voluntarily enrolled individuals who lived during plant operation within 5 miles of a uranium ore processing facility in Fernald, OH and followed from 1990 to 2008, which was after the plant ceased operations. No uranium plant workers are included in this study. Potential SLE cases were identified with searches for ICD9 codes associated with lupus (710.0 and 695.4) and a medication code search for hydroxychloroquine. Sera from potential cases were screened for autoantibodies using the Bioplex 2200 multiplex assay and anti-cardiolipin antibodies using ELISA. Cases were confirmed using an operational definition that included American College of Rheumatology classification criteria and medical record documentation. Four age-, race-, and sex-matched controls were selected for every case. Cumulative uranium exposure was calculated for each individual with a dosimetry model developed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Covariates in the analysis included smoking history, alcohol intake history, and family history of SLE. Logistic regression was used to calculate odds ratios (OR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI). For comparison, preliminary analysis with rheumatoid arthritis (RA, ICD9 code 714.0) was also performed.

Results: The FCC includes 4,187 individuals with low uranium exposure, 1,273 with moderate exposure, and 2,756 with high exposure. SLE was confirmed in 20 of 26 cases with an ICD9 code of 710.0, in 2 of 5 cases with an ICD9 code of 695.4, and in 2 of 43 other cases prescribed hydroxychloroquine. The female to male ratio among cases was 5 to 1. Of the SLE cases, 5 were in the low exposure group, 7 in the moderate exposure group, and 12 in the high exposure group. Following logistic regression modeling, SLE was found to be associated with high exposure (OR 4.81, 95% CI 1.38-16.75, p = 0.043). There was no association between low or moderate uranium exposure and SLE. In the FCC overall, RA occurs at the expected prevalence, while SLE is increased by 5-fold over the expected prevalence.

Conclusion: High uranium exposure is associated with SLE relative to matched controls in this sample of uranium exposed individuals, suggesting that our hypothesis is correct. Potential explanations for this relationship include the estrogen effects of uranium, somatic mutation from ionizing radiation, or effects of some other unidentified accompanying exposure. Whatever the cause for this association, understanding the basis of this relationship is likely to provide important fundamental insight into SLE pathogenesis.


Disclosure:

P. Y. Lu,
None;

L. C. Kottyan,
None;

S. M. Pinney,
None;

J. A. James,
None;

C. Xie,
None;

J. M. Buckholz,
None;

J. B. Harley,
None.

  • Tweet
  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window) Email
  • Click to print (Opens in new window) Print

« Back to 2012 ACR/ARHP Annual Meeting

ACR Meeting Abstracts - https://acrabstracts.org/abstract/identifying-a-link-between-uranium-exposure-and-systemic-lupus-erythematosus-in-a-community-living-near-a-uranium-plant/

Advanced Search

Your Favorites

You can save and print a list of your favorite abstracts during your browser session by clicking the “Favorite” button at the bottom of any abstract. View your favorites »

All abstracts accepted to ACR Convergence are under media embargo once the ACR has notified presenters of their abstract’s acceptance. They may be presented at other meetings or published as manuscripts after this time but should not be discussed in non-scholarly venues or outlets. The following embargo policies are strictly enforced by the ACR.

Accepted abstracts are made available to the public online in advance of the meeting and are published in a special online supplement of our scientific journal, Arthritis & Rheumatology. Information contained in those abstracts may not be released until the abstracts appear online. In an exception to the media embargo, academic institutions, private organizations, and companies with products whose value may be influenced by information contained in an abstract may issue a press release to coincide with the availability of an ACR abstract on the ACR website. However, the ACR continues to require that information that goes beyond that contained in the abstract (e.g., discussion of the abstract done as part of editorial news coverage) is under media embargo until 10:00 AM ET on November 14, 2024. Journalists with access to embargoed information cannot release articles or editorial news coverage before this time. Editorial news coverage is considered original articles/videos developed by employed journalists to report facts, commentary, and subject matter expert quotes in a narrative form using a variety of sources (e.g., research, announcements, press releases, events, etc.).

Violation of this policy may result in the abstract being withdrawn from the meeting and other measures deemed appropriate. Authors are responsible for notifying colleagues, institutions, communications firms, and all other stakeholders related to the development or promotion of the abstract about this policy. If you have questions about the ACR abstract embargo policy, please contact ACR abstracts staff at [email protected].

Wiley

  • Online Journal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Permissions Policies
  • Cookie Preferences

© Copyright 2025 American College of Rheumatology