title: Drugs or disease: evaluating salivary function in RA patients.
abstract: Oral complications of RA may include temporomandibular joint disorders, mucosa alterations and symptoms of dry mouth. The aim of this study was to evaluate the salivary gland function of subjects with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) comparing it to healthy controls. Subjects with other systemic conditions known to affect salivary functions were excluded. A questionnaire was applied for the evaluation of xerostomia. Resting and chewing-stimulated salivary flow rates (SFR) were obtained under standard conditions. There were 145 subjects included of the study (104 RA and 38 controls). About 66.7% of the RA subjects and 2.4% in control group presented xerostomia. The median resting SFR were 0.24 ml/min for RA subjects and 0.40 mL/min for controls (p = 0.04). The median stimulated SFR were 1.31 mL/min for RA subjects and 1.52 ml/min for controls (p = 0.33). No significant differences were found between resting and stimulated SFR of RA subjects not using xerogenic medications and controls. There was significantly higher number of subjects presenting hyposalivation in the RA group than among controls, even when subjects using xerogenic medications were eliminated from the analysis. In conclusion, hyposalivation and xerostomia were more frequent among RA subjects not using xerogenic medication than among controls, although there were no significant differences in the median SFR between groups.
authors.affiliation: Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro - UFRJ, School of Dentistry and Oral Health Program, Clementino Fraga Filho University Hospital, Department of Oral Pathology and Oral Diagnostic, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil.
authors.forename: Sandra Regina
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Torres
authors.affiliation: Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro - UFRJ, School of Dentistry and Oral Health Program, Clementino Fraga Filho University Hospital, Department of Oral Pathology and Oral Diagnostic, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil.
authors.forename: Carlos Henrique Silva
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Pedrazas
authors.affiliation: Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro - UFRJ, Clementino Fraga Filho University Hospital, Department of Internal Medicine, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil.
authors.forename: Marcos Paulo Veloso
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Correia
authors.affiliation: Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro - UFRJ, Clementino Fraga Filho University Hospital, Department of Internal Medicine, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil.
authors.forename: Mario Newton Leitão de
authors.initials: MN
authors.lastname: Azevedo
authors.affiliation: Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro - UFRJ, School of Dentistry and Oral Health Program, Clementino Fraga Filho University Hospital, Department of Oral Pathology and Oral Diagnostic, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil.
authors.forename: Thaís
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Zamprogno
authors.affiliation: Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro - UFRJ, School of Dentistry and Oral Health Program, Clementino Fraga Filho University Hospital, Department of Oral Pathology and Oral Diagnostic, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil.
authors.forename: Arley
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Silva
authors.affiliation: Universidade Estácio de Sá, Postgraduate Program in Dentistry, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil.
authors.forename: Lucio Souza
authors.initials: LS
authors.lastname: Gonçalves
authors.affiliation: Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro - UFRJ, Clementino Fraga Filho University Hospital, Department of Internal Medicine, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil.
authors.forename: José Angelo de Souza
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Papi
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D018501:Antirheumatic Agents / Q000009:adverse effects; D001172:Arthritis, Rheumatoid / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012469:Salivary Glands / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000503:physiopathology*; D012472:Salivation / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D012636:Secretory Rate / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D012737:Sex Factors; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014987:Xerostomia / Q000139:chemically induced*; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D018501:Antirheumatic Agents