Does tobacco influence the natural history of autoimmune pancreatitis?

Abstract Tobacco recently appeared as a major independent factor adversely influencing the natural course of alcoholic chronic pancreatitis. However, the role of tobacco in patients with autoimmune pancreatitis (AIP) has never been studied. Type 2 AIP is associated with inflammatory bowel disease, especially ulcerative colitis in which smoking is protective. The aim of our study was to evaluate the influence of smoking on course of AIP. Patients and methods All consecutive patients followed in our centre for AIP according to ICDC were studied. Tobacco consumption was recorded. A relation between smoking and all event related to AIP was searched for. Results 96 patients with type 1 (73%) or type 2 (27%) AIP were included; 76% of patients were low smokers (never, ex- or smokers