Female patients with Sjögren’s syndrome more like to exhibit eye symptoms than males
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Key takeaways:
- Female patients with Sjögren’s syndrome are more likely to have dry mouth and eye symptoms.
- Male patients should be carefully monitored for interstitial lung disease progression.
There are several differences in the symptoms reported among male and female patients with primary Sjögren’s syndrome, according to data published in the Journal of Clinical Rheumatology.
Male patients, meanwhile, demonstrate higher rates of interstitial lung disease, the researchers additionally concluded.
“Genetic background, environmental factors, and demographic characteristics such as sex affect the phenotypic and severity of [primary Sjögren’s syndrome (pSS)],” Yan Zhang, MBBS, of the Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, and colleagues wrote. “Consequently, more attention should be paid, and individualized therapeutic strategies should be formulated based, on the specific clinical phenotype of pSS in men.”
To study the differences between male and female patients with primary Sjögren’s syndrome, Zhang and colleagues analyzed data from patients treated at a tertiary hospital in China from January 2013 to March 2022. Data were included for all patients who fulfilled the 2002 or the 2016 American College of Rheumatology/EULAR classification criteria for primary Sjögren’s syndrome. Patients were excluded from the analysis if they were pregnant, had secondary Sjögren’s syndrome or had any type of cancer.
For each eligible patient, the researchers collected data on patients’ sex, age and disease duration, as well as clinical disease manifestations, laboratory results and results from the histopathologic exams of minor salivary gland biopsies. Medical information was collected at the time of diagnosis. Disease duration was identified as the time between the onset of symptoms and diagnosis.
The analysis included 961 patients, of whom 140 were male and 821 were female. The researchers reported that female patients with primary Sjögren’s syndrome demonstrated a higher prevalence of dry mouth and eyes, arthralgia and dental caries (P < .05) vs. male patients. In addition, erythrocyte sedimentation rates and immunoglobulin M levels were higher in female patients (P < .05), as well as more leukopenia, neutropenia amenia and low complement 3 and 4, with higher titers of antinuclear antibodies, anti-Sjögren’s syndrome A, anti-Ro52 and rheumatoid factor positivity (P < .05).
Male patients, meanwhile, had higher rates of parotid enlargement and interstitial lung disease (P < .05).
“The clinical phenotypes of pSS differ between women and men,” Zhang and colleagues wrote. “Women with pSS had more dryness, cytopenia, low C3 and C4 levels and autoantibodies positivity than men, the authors wrote. Although men with pSS probably have lighter sicca symptoms and lower immunoactivity and serologic responses, regular monitoring of ILD in men is vital.”
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