Severe destructive autoimmune lesions with aging in murine Sjögren's syndrome through Fas-mediated apoptosis

When we evaluated the age-associated changes in autoimmune exocrinopathy in a NFS/sld murine model for primary Sjögren's syndrome (SS), severe destructive autoimmune lesions developed in the salivary and lacrimal glands in the aged mice, compared with those observed in the younger model. We detected a decreased secretion of saliva and tear flow in the aged group. A significant increase of TUNEL(+)-apoptotic epithelial duct cells in the salivary glands was detected in the aged SS animal model. A higher proportion of mouse salivary gland cells bearing Fas was found in the aged group, whereas no significant changes were seen on tissue-infiltrating CD4(+) T cells bearing FasL in the salivary glands from young and aged mice. We detected an increased cleavage product of organ-specific autoantigen, 120-kd alpha-fodrin, in the aged salivary gland tissues on immunoblotting, and an increase in serum autoantibody production against 120-kd alpha-fodrin by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. An increase in the proliferative response of splenic T cells against organ-specific autoantigen was observed, whereas nonspecific concanavalin A responsiveness was decreased in the aged mice. In addition, a decrease in Fas expression was found on splenic CD4(+) T cells in the aged mice, and anti-Fas mAb-stimulated apoptosis was down-regulated on CD4(+) T cells. These results indicate that age-associated dysregulation of CD4(+) T cells may play a crucial role on acceleration of organ-specific autoimmune lesions in a murine model for primary SS through Fas-mediated apoptosis.