Association of Agricultural, Occupational, and Military Inhalants With Autoantibodies and Disease Features in US Veterans With Rheumatoid Arthritis.

Objective: To determine the association of inhalant exposures with rheumatoid arthritis (RA)-related autoantibodies and severity in US veterans.

Methods: Participants in the Veterans Affairs Rheumatoid Arthritis (VARA) registry were mailed surveys assessing occupational, agricultural, and military inhalant exposures. Demographic characteristics, disease activity, functional status, and extraarticular features were obtained from the VARA registry, while HLA-DRB1 shared epitope (SE) status, anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide (anti-CCP) antibodies, and rheumatoid factor (RF) were measured using banked DNA/serum from enrollment.