Smoking, disease activity, permanent damage and dsDNA autoantibody production in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus

The aim was to study the association of smoking with the activity and severity of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and the production of antibodies to dsDNA. The study included 223 SLE patients attending the outpatient clinics at Helsinki University Central Hospital. The history of smoking was obtained by personal interview, and clinical data related to SLE by interview, clinical examination and chart review. The activity of SLE was assessed by the Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Disease Activity Index (SLEDAI) score and permanent damage by the SLICC/ACR score. Antibodies to dsDNA were determined by three ELISA assays, by the indirect immunofluorescence technique using Crithidia luciliae cells as substrates and by the Farr assay. There were no significant differences in the SLEDAI scores between current smokers (73 patients), ex-smokers (59) and never-smokers (91), though current smokers tended to have lower disease activity. The SLICC/ACR scores between the groups were practically equal. Current smokers had significantly lower levels of antibodies to dsDNA than ex- and never-smokers (p = 0.025). Our study suggests that cigarette smoke may have immunosuppressive effect on autoantibody production in patients with SLE. Permanent damage was not found to be associated with smoking.