title: A preliminary study on the interferon-alpha treatment for xerostomia of Sjögren's syndrome.
abstract: We studied the therapeutic effect of interferon-alpha on the xerostomia of Sjögren's syndrome by injecting 1 x 10(6) units of interferon-alpha intramuscularly once weekly. Saliva production was quantitated by the Saxon test. Variation of saliva production measured at monthly intervals during the 3-month period prior to administration of interferon-alpha was within +/- 0.30 g/2 min. After administration of interferon-alpha, saliva production increased to greater than 0.30 g/2 min in six patients, and the increase was statistically significant by the paired t-test (P = 0.002). The result suggests a beneficial effect of this agent in increasing the saliva production of patients with primary Sjögren's syndrome.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Kobe University School of Medicine, Japan.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Shiozawa
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Morimoto
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Tanaka
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Shiozawa
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007273:Injections, Intramuscular; D016898:Interferon-alpha / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D008875:Middle Aged; D011863:Radioimmunoassay; D012463:Saliva / Q000378:metabolism; D012859:Sjogren's Syndrome / Q000150:complications / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000378:metabolism; D014987:Xerostomia / Q000150:complications / Q000188:drug therapy*
chemical_list: D016898:Interferon-alpha