[Immunological study of tissue-infiltrating lymphocytes in Sjögren's syndrome: virus specific T cell response]

The possible role of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) in the pathogenesis of Sjögren's syndrome (SS) has been suggested. However, the evidence has been circumstantial and it is not known at all whether cellular immune responses to EBV are linked to the mechanism of the disease. Although the oligoclonal expansion of T lymphocytes in salivary glands of SS was indicated by some analyses of the T cell receptors, the corresponding ligands are unknown. The key question may be of whether this disorder involves virus specific immune attacks on the salivary glands being a site for EBV latency. We introduce here our functional study of the salivary gland-infiltrating T lymphocytes in patients with SS for detecting EBV specific memory T cells. The potential association of the state of EBV-specific CTL in the lesion with the reactivation of EBV will be discussed.