Rosacea, Use of Tetracycline, and Risk of Incident Inflammatory Bowel Disease in Women

Background & Aims: Rosacea is an inflammatory skin disease. Case reports have shown rosacea as a comorbidity of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), but no epidemiologic studies have examined rosacea and risk of subsequent IBD. The association between tetracycline use and risk of IBD was assessed, but this study produced limited findings. We examined the association between rosacea, use of tetracycline, and risk of incident Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC). Methods: We analyzed data from 96,314 participants in the Nurses' Health Study II (1991-2011). Information on IBD was confirmed by medical review. Participants were asked in 2005 about their lifetime histories of clinician-diagnosed rosacea and year of diagnosis. Information on ever use of tetracycline was collected in 1993. Results: During 1,856,587 person-years (1991-2011), we identified 149 cases of CD and 215 cases of UC. Rosacea was not associated with risk of UC. In contrast, rosacea was significantly associated with increased risk of subsequent CD (hazard ratio [HR], 2.20; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.15-4.18), which appeared particularly stronger for a longer duration after a diagnosis of rosacea (P_trend = .01). Tetracycline use was associated with increased risk of CD (HR, 1.56; 95% CI, 1.09-2.24) and UC (HR, 1.34; 95% CI, 1.00-1.80); there was a trend toward increased risk with increased duration of use (both P_trend < .05) (1993-2011). Conclusions: On the basis of an analysis of data from the Nurses' Health Study II, ever use of tetracycline at baseline is associated with an increased risk of CD and UC. Personal history of rosacea is associated with an increased risk of only CD.