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Updated: Aug 29, 2026

Ultrasonographic Evaluation of Salivary Glands for Sjogren's Syndrome: Diagnostic and Monitoring Insights
Published on: October 13, 2023
Are women with Sjögren's syndrome androgen-deficient?
David A Sullivan1, Alain Bélanger, Jennifer M Cermak
1Schepens Eye Research Institute, Harvard Medical School, 20 Staniford Street, Boston, MA 02114, USA. sullivan@vision.eri.harvard.edu
Objective:
We hypothesize that androgen deficiency is a critical etiologic factor in the pathogenesis of aqueous-deficient and evaporative dry eye in Sjögren's syndrome (SS). We investigated whether women with SS have a deficiency in total androgens. We also examined whether these patients have elevated serum concentrations of estrogens.
Methods:
Blood was drawn from women with primary and secondary SS and age matched controls, and analyzed for steroid concentrations by gas and liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry.
Results:
Our results show that women with SS are androgen-deficient. Concentrations of 5-androstene-3beta,17beta-diol (5-diol), dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA), dihydrotestosterone (DHT), androsterone-glucuronide (ADT-G), and androstane-3a,17beta-diol-G (3alpha-diol-G) were all significantly reduced in SS sera relative to controls. In contrast, SS was not associated with significant alterations in the serum concentrations of testosterone, androstenedione, estrone, or 17beta-estradiol. These overall findings could not be attributed to the use of oral contraceptives or hormone replacement therapy, because the concentrations of 5-diol, DHEA, DHT, ADT-G and 3a-diol-G were also decreased in patients with SS compared to levels in control women who were not taking exogenous estrogens.
Conclusion:
Our results show that women with SS are androgen-deficient.
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