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Published on: October 13, 2023
Salivary Th17-associated cytokines as potential biomarkers in primary Sjögren's Disease
Giovanna P Florezi1, Felippe P Barone1, Cibele Pelissari2
1Department of Stomatology, Faculdade de Odontologia da Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil; LIM-06, Instituto de Medicina Tropical, Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil.
Objective:
Primary Sjögren's disease (SjD) is a chronic autoimmune exocrinopathy characterized by focal lymphocytic infiltration in exocrine glands, leading to progressive secretory dysfunction. This study aimed to analyze salivary cytokines associated with the Th17 immune response to enhance understanding of SjD pathophysiology and identify potential diagnostic biomarkers, given that saliva reflects both the morphological and functional changes in glandular parenchyma.
Methods:
Saliva samples from 27 patients with SjD, selected based on ACR-EULAR consensus criteria, and 15 healthy controls were analyzed using a multiplex assay to quantify cytokines linked to Th17 lymphocytes.
Results:
Salivary analysis revealed significantly elevated levels of TNF-α (P = .006), IFN-γ (P = .028), IL-22 (P = .023), and IL-17 (P < .001) in patients with SjD compared with healthy controls. Conversely, IL-10 (P = .049), IL-21 (P < .001), and CD40L (P < .001) were significantly higher in the healthy controls than in patients with SjD.
Conclusions:
These findings suggest that the identified cytokines play a critical role in the inflammatory processes of SjD and may serve as potential salivary biomarkers, reflecting the disease-associated alterations in salivary gland morphology and function.
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