title: Quantitative assessment of clinical disease status in primary Sjögren's syndrome. A cross-sectional study using a new classification model.
abstract: Quantitative and qualitative assessment of the clinical disease manifestations in 41 primary Sjögren's syndrome (pSS) patients was performed according to a new classification model. Frequencies of subgrouped disease manifestations were as follows: 1) surface exocrine disease: 100%, 2) internal organ exocrine disease: 63%, 3) monoclonal B lymphocyte disease: 5%, 4) inflammatory vascular disease: 71%, 5) non-inflammatory vascular disease: 59%, 6) mediator induced disease: 98%. Summary scores for severity of surface exocrine disease correlated to the summary scores of all other disease manifestations (p = 0.02), to the summary scores of internal organ exocrine disease (p = 0.003), and to the summary scores of mediator induced disease (p = 0.03). Blood leucocyte counts showed significant negative correlations to levels of plasma IgG, serum IgA-RF, IgM-RF, anti-SSA/SSB antibodies, IL-6, and IL-1Ra. We conclude that the model made detailed analysis of the clinical presentation of pSS possible, and thus may assist in elucidating important pathobiological aspect of the disease.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine TA, Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen, Denmark.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Asmussen
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Andersen
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Bendixen
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Bendtzen
authors.forename: J U
authors.initials: JU
authors.lastname: Prause
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Thorn
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Wiik
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Oxholm
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001323:Autoantibodies / Q000097:blood; D001798:Blood Proteins / Q000032:analysis; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D016207:Cytokines / Q000097:blood; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007107:Immune System / Q000276:immunology; D007378:Interleukins / Q000097:blood; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D012859:Sjogren's Syndrome / Q000097:blood / Q000145:classification / Q000175:diagnosis*
chemical_list: D001323:Autoantibodies; D001798:Blood Proteins; D016207:Cytokines; D007378:Interleukins