title: Sjögren's syndrome patients presenting with hypergammaglobulinemia are relatively unresponsive to cevimeline treatment.
abstract: Sjögren's syndrome (SS) is a systemic autoimmune disease characterized by sicca symptoms, including dry eyes and dry mouth. Cevimeline is used for the treatment of dry mouth in patients with SS. Here we prospectively tested the clinical effectiveness of cevimeline at increasing saliva secretion in patients with SS, and the results were compared with the clinical parameters of the patients. Saliva secretion was increased >160% in 17 of 30 (56.7%) patients (P < 0.005). When the clinical parameters were compared between the patients who responded to cevimeline treatment and those who did not respond to the treatment, the frequency of patients presenting with hypergammaglobulinemia was significantly higher in the nonresponder group (P < 0.05). It thus appears that cevimeline is effective in SS patients with milder disease activity.
authors.affiliation: Division of Rheumatology, Department of Medicine and Biophysics, Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine and Health Sciences, 7-10-2 Tomogaoka, Suma-ku, Kobe 654-0142, Japan.
authors.forename: Koichiro
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Komai
authors.forename: Kazuko
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Shiozawa
authors.forename: Yasushi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Tanaka
authors.forename: Ryosuke
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Yoshihara
authors.forename: Chihiro
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Tanaka
authors.forename: Hideo
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Sakai
authors.forename: Takashi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Yamane
authors.forename: Miki
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Murata
authors.forename: Ken
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Tsumiyama
authors.forename: Akira
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hashiramoto
authors.forename: Shunichi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Shiozawa
mesh_terms: D012634:Bodily Secretions / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D004351:Drug Resistance; D006801:Humans; D006942:Hypergammaglobulinemia / Q000175:diagnosis*; D008875:Middle Aged; D018721:Muscarinic Agonists / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D011812:Quinuclidines / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D012463:Saliva / Q000378:metabolism; D012859:Sjogren's Syndrome / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000188:drug therapy*; D013876:Thiophenes / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D014987:Xerostomia / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000209:etiology
chemical_list: D018721:Muscarinic Agonists; D011812:Quinuclidines; D013876:Thiophenes; C059240:cevimeline