Sjögren’s Syndrome News

Anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide antibodies might serve as a better biomarker than other typical autoantibodies for rheumatoid arthritis in American Indians, researchers found in a study.

Rheumatoid factor is the autoantibody most relevant in rheumatoid arthritis. Rheumatoid factor is characterized as an antibody against the fragment crystallizable portion of immunoglobulin G. When rheumatoid factor and immunoglobulin G join, immune complexes that contribute to the disease process are formed.

Sjögren’s syndrome is an autoimmune disorder characterized by the destruction of the glands that produce moisture, primarily tears and saliva. The primary form of the condition affects the mouth and eyes. The secondary form may affect the kidneys and lungs and occur alone or with other autoimmune disorders such as polymyositis, rheumatoid arthritis, scleroderma or systemic lupus erythematosus

A rheumatologist is a specialist in the field of rheumatology who has received postgraduate training and experience in the diagnosis and treatment of arthritis and other diseases of the joints, muscles and bones. Apart from the main types of arthritis, such as osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis, a rheumatologist may treat 100 different types of pain and musculoskeletal disorders, including autoimmune diseases, back pain, fibromyalgia, gout, lupus, osteoporosis, Sjögren’s syndrome, spondylitis, Still’s disease and tendinitis.

The Sjögren’s International Collaborative Clinical Alliance has presented new classification criteria for research on Sjögren’s syndrome. Previously, research classifications for the autoimmune disease, which affects several areas of the body such as the eyes, salivary glands, and joints, had been subjective. The new objective criteria will help to standardize clinical trial enrollment and comparability of research data, researchers said.

Researchers have found that fatigue is mostly unchanged throughout time in primary Sjogren’s Syndrome patients and found no clinical or laboratory indicators of fatigue, according to recent research published in Arthritis Research and Therapy.

Recurrent parotitis should trigger clinicians to consider pediatric Sjögren’s syndrome, according to a case report published online recently.

A 65-year-old woman was referred for evaluation of her dry eyes, worse in her right eye than in her left eye. She had a long-standing history of primary open-angle glaucoma for which she was using pilocarpine 1%, timolol 0.5% and dorzolamide eye drops in the right eye. The left eye had not required eye drops since she underwent filtering surgery many years ago. Intraocular pressures measured 13 mm Hg in both eyes. Slit lamp examination of the right eye is as shown in the figure. The left eye did not demonstrate these findings.

One in 12 women and one in 20 men will develop inflammatory autoimmune rheumatic disease during their lifetime, according to a study recently published online in Arthritis & Rheumatism.

Abnormal ocular staining scores showed a substantial number of dry eye patients with keratoconjunctivitis sicca that was distinct from Sjögren's syndrome.