Xerostomia in Sjögren's syndrome and lupus erythematosus: a comparative histological and immunofluorescence study of minor salivary glands alterations.
BACKGROUND
Xerostomia is a symptom that can be triggered by chronic diseases such as Sjögren's syndrome (SS) and lupus erythematosus (LE). Many authors regard most cases of salivary hypofunction in LE to secondary SS. Others believe that salivary changes in patients with LE might reflect a multisystem presentation of the disease. The present study compared histopathological and direct immunofluorescence (DIF) alterations in salivary glands of patients with xerostomia and diagnosis of LE or SS.


METHODS
Twenty-eight salivary gland biopsies from patients with xerostomia and diagnosed with LE or SS were submitted to histopathological and DIF exams.


RESULTS
From the 28 patients, 16 had SS and 12 had LE. In SS, a moderate to intense sialadenitis was detected, with infiltration and destruction of excretory salivary ducts. In LE, mild/moderate sialadenitis with thickening and hyalinization of the ductal basement membrane was observed. DIF revealed that 50% of SS patients presented intercellular ductal IgA deposits, whereas 58% of LE patients showed deposits of IgG in the ductal basement membrane.


CONCLUSIONS
Alterations in salivary glands of LE patients may be a specific manifestation of the disease (lupus sialadenitis), reflecting its multisystemic presentation, instead of an association of secondary SS and LE.
Fernandes
Juliana Dumêt
JD
Department of Dermatology, Medical School, University of São Paulo, Brazil. jdumet@gmail.com
Nico
Marcello Menta S
MM
Aoki
Valéria
V
Bologna
Sheyla
S
Romiti
Ricardo
R
Levy-Neto
Mauricio
M
Lourenço
Sílvia Vanessa
SV
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D005455:Fluorescent Antibody Technique; D006801:Humans; D007070:Immunoglobulin A / Q000378:metabolism; D008180:Lupus Erythematosus, Systemic / Q000150:complications / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012470:Salivary Glands, Minor / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D012793:Sialadenitis / Q000150:complications / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D012859:Sjogren's Syndrome / Q000150:complications / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D014987:Xerostomia / Q000150:complications / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology
D007070:Immunoglobulin A