Salivary autoantibodies in HIV-associated salivary gland disease

A subset of HIV-positive patients develops salivary gland disease (HIV-SGD), characterized by salivary gland enlargement and/or decreased salivary flow. While clinical symptoms are similar to Sjögren's syndrome (SS), patients with HIV-SGD lack circulating anti-SS-A/Ro and anti-SS-B/La. Occasionally, SS patients lacking circulating anti-SS-A/Ro and anti-SS-B/La have these antibodies in their saliva. Salivas from 11 patients with HIV-SGD, 13 HIV+ patients without HIV-SGD, 14 HIV-negative men controls, and 11 patients with SS were screened for autoantibodies. Five HIV-SGD salivas had antibodies recognizing the cytoplasm of a salivary cell line. No HIV+ controls showed reactivity. Ten of 11 SS patients had salivary autoantibodies, and one HIV-negative control was positive for them. Salivary anti-SS-A/Ro was present in 8/11 SS patients, and 7 also contained anti-SS-B/La. No HIV-SGD salivary samples had these specific autoantibodies. These findings suggest that while glandular polyclonal expansion occurs in both HIV-SGD and SS, different autoantibodies are produced.