[Primitive Sjögren's syndrome in France and Ecuador. Possible involvement od HTLV 1]

The authors study the possible involvement of retrovirus in Sjögren's syndrome. They report a preliminary study of 20 French and 13 Ecuadorian patients with a primary Sjögren syndrome. A previous epidemiologic study showed a HTLV1 seroprevalence going from 0.04 to 6% on different regions of Ecuador. The results of this study show the presence of anti-HTLV1 antibodies only in 2 Ecuadorian patients and does not allow a final conclusion of the role of HTLV1 virus. Nevertheless other studies continue on the serie using minor salivary gland specimens obtained by biopsy. Recent publications and the notion of an "endogen" retrovirus will may be lighten a new day in this research.