[Sicca syndrome and hepatitis C virus infection: a Gougerot-Sjögren pseudo-syndrome?]

These last years, different virus have been incriminated in the etiopathogeny of the primary-Sjögren's syndrome and more particularly the hepatitis C virus. We have led a prospective study over 23 patients presenting a primary Sjögren's syndrome, searching for a sign of infection by the hepatitis C virus and over 23 patients presenting an active chronic hepatitis C virus searching for a Gougerot-Sjögren syndrome. The overcoming of the hepatitis C virus in the Sjögren group was 4.7% which was not significatively higher than in our sample of population. Parallelly, the search of the Sjögren's syndrome, in the hepatitis C virus group, found 4 patients (feminine, average age 48.5 years old) whose clinical board was compatible with this diagnostic. Antinuclear antibodies have not been found in any of the 23 patients. The lymphocytic typing of the infiltrate in the minor salivary glands biopsies showed a predominance of the CD8 lymphocytes in a proportion of 2/1, contrasting with what is observed in primary Sjögren's syndrome. We concluded that hepatitis C virus may be more associated with a chronic lymphocytic sialadenitis than an authentic primary Sjögren's syndrome.