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a Kanta-Häme Central
Hospital, Hämeenlinna, Finland, b National
Public Health Institute, Helsinki, Finland, c Research and Development Centre, Social
Insurance Institution, Turku, Finland
Correspondence to: Dr R Heikkilä, Kanta-Häme Central Hospital, Fin-13530, Hämeenlinna, Finland.
Accepted for publication 17 March 1998
OBJECTIVE
It has been hypothesised, mainly on the
basis of indirect evidence, that low serum concentrations of
androgen-anabolic hormones would play a causal part in the aetiology of
rheumatoid arthritis (RA).
METHODSA case-control study was nested with a
Finnish cohort of 19 072 adults who had neither arthritis nor a
history of it at the baseline examination during 1973-1977.
Pre-illness serum specimens for the assay of testosterone and
dehydroepiandrosterone sulphate (DHEAS) were available from 116 cases
who had developed RA by late 1989. Three controls per each incident
case were individually matched for sex, age, and municipality.
RESULTSThe mean testosterone concentration was
1.4 nmol/l in those 84 women who developed RA and 1.4 nmol/l in their
controls; the corresponding figures for DHEAS were 5.2 µmol/l and 5.5 µmol/l, respectively. Mean testosterone concentration in the 32 male
cases was 26.1 nmol/l and 26.4 nmol/l in their controls; the
corresponding figures for DHEAS were 11.2 µmol/l and 10.1 µmol/l,
respectively. Analysis by subgroups (rheumatoid factor positive and
negative disease, premenopausal and postmenopausal women) and by
hormone distributions showed no differences.
CONCLUSIONThe findings are not in line with the
contention that low concentrations of testosterone and DHEAS play a
part in the aetiology of RA.
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