Wang J et al. – Biologic effects of chemicals present in lipsticks absorbed across the buccal mucosa and confounding from unmeasured lifestyle factors could be the explanation of this association of lipstick with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Epidemiologic studies of SLE should include this exposure in exploring its environmental triggers. Methods
Study to investigate the association between lipstick use and risk of SLE
An Internet-based case–control study of SLE searching on medical key terms
Cases were diagnosed within 5 yrs and met ≥4 ACR criteria for SLE by medical record review
Controls were matched to cases on age, gender, race, ethnicity, region of residence, reference year, education, and income using propensity score
Demographic characteristics and lifestyle factors were collected using an online questionnaire
Conditional logistic regression models were used for the analyses with smoking, alcohol consumption, permanent hair dye use, and chemical hair straightener use adjusted
Results
The analysis included 124 cases and 248 matched controls of whom 96% were females and 81% were whites
The median of disease duration was 2 yrs
Using lipstick at least 3 days/wk was associated with increased risk of SLE
There was a trend of greater risk with earlier age of initiation of lipstick use and with increased frequency of use
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