Assessment of SS-A and SS-B in parotid saliva of patients with Sjögren's syndrome.
BACKGROUND
The purpose of this study was to compare the sensitivity of parotid saliva to that of serum in detecting anti-SSA/Ro and anti-SSB/La autoantibodies in patients with Sjögren's syndrome.


METHODS
Forty patients and 20 controls participated in the study; all patients met the 1993 European Community criteria for the diagnosis of Sjögren's syndrome. Healthy controls were age- and sex-matched individuals with no signs or symptoms of Sjögren's syndrome. Serum and saliva samples were evaluated using AffiniTech SSA/Ro and SSB/La antibodies kits (AffiniTech, Ltd. Bentonville, AR, USA). The results were also compared with serological status of SS-A and SS-B as reported by an independent clinical laboratory.


RESULTS
Serum was significantly more sensitive than saliva in detecting SSA/Ro and SSB/La antibodies (P = 0.001). There was high agreement between the results with the AffiniTech kits and the independent laboratory (kappa = 0.80; P < 0.001). However, there was poor agreement between saliva and serum results (kappa = 0.174; P = 0.168).


CONCLUSIONS
The overall results appear to support that serum analysis is effective method for evaluating the presence of SS-A and SS-B autoantibodies.
Hammi
Ann Rose
AR
Baylor College of Dentistry, TAMUS, Dallas, TX 75246, USA.
Al-Hashimi
Ibtisam H
IH
Nunn
Martha E
ME
Zipp
Michele
M
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000974:Antibodies, Antinuclear / Q000032:analysis* / Q000097:blood; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010306:Parotid Gland / Q000276:immunology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012463:Saliva / Q000276:immunology*; D012471:Salivary Proteins and Peptides / Q000032:analysis; D012636:Secretory Rate / Q000502:physiology; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D012859:Sjogren's Syndrome / Q000097:blood / Q000276:immunology*
D000974:Antibodies, Antinuclear; C035356:SS-A antibodies; C035357:SS-B antibodies; D012471:Salivary Proteins and Peptides