Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2022 Dec 12;17(12):e0265057.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0265057. eCollection 2022.

Salivary gland ultrasound is associated with the presence of autoantibodies in patients with Sjögren's syndrome: A Danish single-centre study

Nanna Surlemont Schmidt  1   2 , Anne Voss  1   3 , Anna Christine Nilsson  3   4 , Lene Terslev  5   6 , Søren Andreas Just  1   7 , Hanne M Lindegaard  1   3
Affiliations

Salivary gland ultrasound is associated with the presence of autoantibodies in patients with Sjögren's syndrome: A Danish single-centre study

Nanna Surlemont Schmidt et al. PLoS One. .

Abstract

Objectives: To investigate whether ultrasound findings of major salivary glands are correlated with serological markers, autoantibodies, patient- or doctor-reported disease activity in a Danish cohort of patients with primary Sjögren's Syndrome (pSS).

Methods: In all, 49 patients at Odense University Hospital with pSS diagnosed according to the 2002 American-European Consensus Group (AECG) classification criteria were included. Patients were characterized using the EULAR Sjögren's Syndrome Disease Activity Index (ESSDAI, score of systemic complications) and EULAR Sjögren's Syndrome Patient Reported Index (ESSPRI), serologic markers, Schirmer's test and salivary test. Salivary gland ultrasound (SGUS) was performed of the submandibular and parotid glands and scored according to the Outcome Measures in Rheumatoid Arthritis Clinical Trials (OMERACT) semi-quantitative scoring system.

Results: More patients with abnormal SGUS had antinuclear antibodies (ANA) (p = 0.002), anti-Ro52 (p = 0.001), anti-Ro60 (p<0.001), anti-La (p<0.001) and IgM-RF (p<0.001). Titers for ANA (p = 0.02) and anti-Ro52 (p = 0.03) were higher in patients with abnormal SGUS. Twenty-three of the pSS patients had no pathological findings on SGUS. There was no correlation between SGUS severity and ESSDAI- or ESSPRI-scores.

Conclusions: Abnormal SGUS findings are associated with autoantibodies of high specificity for pSS but not with ESSDAI, ESSPRI or inflammatory markers.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Fig 1
Fig 1. Examples on OMERACT SGUS scoring system.
(A) Ultrasound images of parotid glands and (B) submandibular glands affected by pSS. Grade 0: Normal parenchyma, grade 1: Minimal change, mild inhomogeneity without anechoic/hypoechoic areas, grade 2: Moderate change, moderate inhomogeneity with focal anechoic/hypoechoic areas, grade 3: Severe change, diffuse inhomogeneity with anechoic/hypoechoic areas occupying the entire gland surface.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Mariette X, Criswell LA. Primary Sjogren’s Syndrome. N Engl J Med. 2018;378(10):931–9. - PubMed
    1. Reed JH, Verstappen GM, Rischmueller M, Bryant VL. When B cells break bad: development of pathogenic B cells in Sjogren’s syndrome. Clin Exp Rheumatol. 2020;38 Suppl 126(4):271–82. - PubMed
    1. Vitali C, Bombardieri S, Jonsson R, Moutsopoulos HM, Alexander EL, Carsons SE, et al.. Classification criteria for Sjogren’s syndrome: a revised version of the European criteria proposed by the American-European Consensus Group. Annals of the rheumatic diseases. 2002;61(6):554–8. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Shiboski CH, Shiboski SC, Seror R, Criswell LA, Labetoulle M, Lietman TM, et al.. 2016 American College of Rheumatology/European League Against Rheumatism Classification Criteria for Primary Sjögren’s Syndrome: A Consensus and Data-Driven Methodology Involving Three International Patient Cohorts. Arthritis Rheumatol. 2017;69(1):35–45. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Cornec D, Jousse-Joulin S, Marhadour T, Pers JO, Boisrame-Gastrin S, Renaudineau Y, et al.. Salivary gland ultrasonography improves the diagnostic performance of the 2012 American College of Rheumatology classification criteria for Sjogren’s syndrome. Rheumatology (Oxford, England). 2014;53(9):1604–7. - PubMed

Publication types