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
. 1999 Jan;115(1):203-7.
doi: 10.1046/j.1365-2249.1999.00778.x.

Ro/SS-A-reactive B lymphocytes in salivary glands and peripheral blood of patients with Sjögren's syndrome

A Halse  1 , J B Harley, U Kroneld, R Jonsson
Affiliations

Ro/SS-A-reactive B lymphocytes in salivary glands and peripheral blood of patients with Sjögren's syndrome

A Halse et al. Clin Exp Immunol. 1999 Jan.

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate the production of anti-Ro/SS-A antibodies in labial salivary glands (LSG) and peripheral blood (PB) of Sjögren's syndrome (SS) patients. The ELISPOT method was performed to quantify the frequency of LSG lymphocytes and PB lymphocytes spontaneously secreting anti-Ro/SS-A antibodies. The total number of IgG-, IgA- and IgM-producing cells was also quantified. The bovine Ro 60-kD protein was used as target antigen. Six of six primary SS patients had LSG B cells producing anti-bovine Ro 60 kD of the IgG isotype, and two of two primary SS patients had in addition PB lymphocytes producing anti-bovine Ro 60 kD of the IgG isotype. The six patients who had IgG antibodies against the Ro/SS-A antigen in LSG all had focus scores of >/= 7 in biopsies of LSG. The results indicate that SS patients with a high degree of local inflammation in LSG have B cells producing anti-Ro/SS-A antibodies in both LSG and PB. Thus, the anti-Ro/SS-A antibodies may have pathogenic importance in the progression of the exocrinopathy of SS.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
One well of a microtitre plate visualizing the spots on the nitrocellulose membrane. Each spot represents antibodies secreted by one B lymphocyte.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Maddison PJ. Autoantibodies in Sjögren's syndrome: their origins and pathological consequences. In: Isenberg DA, Horsfall AC, editors. Autoimmune diseases: focus on Sjögren's syndrome. London: Bios Scientific Publishers; 1994. pp. 89–100.
    1. Vitali C, Bombardieri S, Moutsopoulos HM, et al. Preliminary criteria for the classification of Sjögren's syndrome. Arthritis Rheum. 1993;36:340–7. - PubMed
    1. Tan EM. Antinuclear antibodies: diagnostic markers for autoimmune diseases and probes for cell biology. Adv Immunol. 1989;44:93–106. - PubMed
    1. Harley JB, Alexander EL, Bias WB, et al. Anti-Ro (SS-A) and anti-La (SS-B) in patients with Sjögren's syndrome. Arthritis Rheum. 1986;29:196–206. - PubMed
    1. Pease CT, Charles PJ, Shattles W, Markwick J, Maini RN. Serological and immunogenetic markers of extraglandular primary Sjögren's syndrome. Br J Rheumatol. 1993;32:574–7. - PubMed

Publication types