Association between magnesium, copper, and potassium intakes with risk of rheumatoid arthritis: a cross-sectional study from National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES)

Abstract

Background: The relationship between Mg (magnesium), Cu (copper), and K (potassium) intakes and the risk of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) remains limited. The aim of present study was to examine the associations between Mg, Cu and K intakes with RA.

Methods: Using data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2003-2018, we examined the association between Mg, Cu and K intakes and the risk of RA among US adults. After adjustment for age, sex, race, BMI, educational level, smoking history, alcohol consumption, family Poverty Income Ratio (PIR), diabetes and total daily energy intake, logistic regression models and smooth curve fitting were applied to examine the associations of Mg, Cu and K intakes with RA.

Results: A total of 18,338 participants were included (1,008 participants with RA). The multivariate adjusted ORs (95% CI) of RA were [0.66 (0.51, 0.84)], [0.76 (0.60, 0.97)], and [0.75 (0.58, 0.97)] in the highest versus lowest quartile of magnesium intakes, respectively. A nonlinear association between Cu intakes and RA was found. When Cu intake (ln) was between 0.6-2.2 mg, the risk of RA reduced by 26% for every 1 mg increase of intake in Cu [0.74 (0.58, 0.96)].

Conclusions: Higher Mg, Cu and K intakes may be inversely associated with the risk of RA among US adults, and an inverse L-shaped association between dietary Cu and RA was found.

Keywords: Copper; Magnesium; NHANES; Potassium; Rheumatoid arthritis.