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MINI REVIEW article
Front. Immunol.
Sec. Autoimmune and Autoinflammatory Disorders : Autoimmune Disorders
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2025.1588419
This article is part of the Research TopicEnvironmental Influences on Autoimmunity and Autoimmune DiseaseView all 6 articles
Where there's smoke, there's fire: Insights from murine models on the effect of cigarette smoke in rheumatoid arthritis development
Provisionally accepted- University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada
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Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic autoimmune inflammatory disease characterized by joint inflammation and damage, leading to disability and pain. The etiology of RA is undefined but considered multifactorial, as interactions between genetics and environmental factors lead to the generation of autoantibodies that target synovial joints. Smoking is a wellestablished and widely studied risk factor for RA development and is associated with a reduced response to treatments and poor clinical outcomes. Murine models of inflammatory arthritis have provided many insights into the pathogenesis of RA and have recently been used to explore the relationship between cigarette smoking and RA. In this review, we comprehensively appraise the current literature investigating cigarette smoke exposure in murine models of inflammatory arthritis, focused on RA. The current literature indicates that the influence of smoke exposure on molecular and disease outcomes depends on the timepoint of exposure and genetic background of the mice. Further, dose-dependent increases in disease manifestations reproduce human clinical data that the intensity of smoking is linked to disease but demosntrate that there may be a plateau effect. Finally, we consolidate mechanistic findings to describe a potential mechanism through which cigarette smoke exacerbates murine arthritis. Understanding how these factors, genetics, timing, and intensity of exposure modulate response to CS in inflammatory arthritis models may lead to better drug development and personalized treatment strategies, ultimately improving outcomes for RA patients with a smoking history.
Keywords: Rheumatoid arthritis, collagen-induced arthritis, cigarette smoke, risk factors RA, CS, RF, Rheumatoid Factor, PTMs
Received: 05 Mar 2025; Accepted: 11 Apr 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Marshall, Hemshekhar, Mookherjee and O'Neil. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Liam J O'Neil, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada
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