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
. 2023 Jan 1;12(1):16-29.
doi: 10.21037/gs-22-289. Epub 2023 Jan 9.

The clinical and immunological characteristics related to salivary gland enlargement in primary Sjögren's syndrome: a retrospective cross-sectional study

Yanhong Meng #  1 , Peiru Zhou #  2 , Xinkui Chang  1 , Hong Hua  2
Affiliations

The clinical and immunological characteristics related to salivary gland enlargement in primary Sjögren's syndrome: a retrospective cross-sectional study

Yanhong Meng et al. Gland Surg. .

Abstract

Background: Salivary gland enlargement (SGE) is one of the common manifestations in primary Sjögren's syndrome (pSS) patients who are first referred to the hospital of stomatology. Whether the characteristics of the pSS patients with SGE differ from those of the ones without SGE remains unclear. Therefore, this study aimed at investigating the clinical and immunological characteristics related to SGE in pSS, to provide a comprehensive understanding of the clinical phenotype of pSS with SGE.

Methods: In this retrospective cross-sectional study, medical records of patients diagnosed with pSS from 2016 to 2021 were evaluated. The included patients were divided into the SGE and non-SGE groups. Patient data including general clinical data, radiographic and B-ultrasound examination data, and immunological data were extracted. Intergroup differences were analyzed using the chi-square test, Fisher's exact test, and non-parametric tests with SPSS 23.0. Binary logistic regression analysis was further performed to determine the factors related to SGE in pSS.

Results: Two hundred and three patients with pSS were included, including 126 and 77 patients with and without SGE, respectively. Univariate analysis showed that compared to the non-SGE group, the SGE group was younger, had dry eye symptom for a longer duration, and had a higher proportion of patients with severe conditions on salivary gland radiography (P<0.05). Regarding immunological indicators, the levels of anti-Ro52, anti-SSA (Ro60), and anti-SSB antibodies; immunoglobulin (Ig)G; IgA; and rheumatoid factor (RF) and erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) were significantly higher in the SGE group (P<0.05). Binary logistic regression analysis showed that younger age and high anti-Ro52 levels were independent factors related to SGE in pSS.

Conclusions: SGE is highly consistent with increased immunological indicators, reflecting disease activity. pSS patients with SGE were younger than those without. Special attention should be paid to the changes in the anti-Ro52 level since it is an independent factor related to SGE in pSS.

Keywords: Primary Sjögren’s syndrome (pSS); clinical characteristics; immunological characteristics; salivary gland enlargement (SGE).

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Conflicts of Interest: All authors have completed the ICMJE uniform disclosure form (available at https://gs.amegroups.com/article/view/10.21037/gs-22-289/coif). The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Radiographic manifestations in pSS patients. Mild-type manifestation in a 34-year-old male pSS patient: (A) the contrast phase showed that the main duct and its branches gradually became thinner with a natural course and smooth duct wall, similar to leaf veins. Blue arrows: main duct and its branches. (B) The emptying phase showed substantial emptying of the contrast in the main duct and its branches. Severe-type manifestation in a 48-year-old female pSS patient: (C) the contrast phase showed multiple punctate and globular sialectasis of terminal ducts. Red arrows: multiple punctate and globular sialectasis of terminal ducts. (D) The emptying phase showed delayed emptying with residual contrast in terminal ducts. Red arrows: residual contrast in terminal ducts. pSS, primary Sjögren’s syndrome.
Figure 2
Figure 2
The flow diagram of pSS patient selection. SGE, salivary gland enlargement; pSS, primary Sjögren’s syndrome; ACR, American College of Rheumatology; EULAR, European League Against Rheumatism.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Brito-Zerón P, Baldini C, Bootsma H, et al. Sjögren syndrome. Nat Rev Dis Primers 2016;2:16047. 10.1038/nrdp.2016.47 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Mariette X, Criswell LA. Primary Sjögren's Syndrome. N Engl J Med 2018;378:931-9. 10.1056/NEJMcp1702514 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Ramos-Casals M, Brito-Zerón P, Solans R, et al. Systemic involvement in primary Sjogren's syndrome evaluated by the EULAR-SS disease activity index: analysis of 921 Spanish patients (GEAS-SS Registry). Rheumatology (Oxford) 2014;53:321-31. 10.1093/rheumatology/ket349 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Campos J, Hillen MR, Barone F. Salivary Gland Pathology in Sjögren's Syndrome. Rheum Dis Clin North Am 2016;42:473-83. 10.1016/j.rdc.2016.03.006 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Seror R, Ravaud P, Bowman SJ, et al. EULAR Sjogren's syndrome disease activity index: development of a consensus systemic disease activity index for primary Sjogren's syndrome. Ann Rheum Dis 2010;69:1103-9. 10.1136/ard.2009.110619 - DOI - PMC - PubMed