This study was carried out to analyse the possible influence of smoking on the positivity of rheumatoid factor (RF) in healthy individuals in the region of Curitiba, Brazil. One hundred fifty blood donors (84 smokers and 66 non-smokers ) were studied for the presence of RF using nephelometry. Smoking was found not to be correlated to the positivity of RF, independently of the smokers sex (men with p=0.09 and women with p=0.49), the number of cigarettes/day (p=0.20), duration of smoking (p=0.18) and cumulative exposure (time X quantity) to cigarettes (p=0.13).
Rheumatoid factor; smoking; rheumatoid arthritis; tobacco exposure
