title: Inflammation in Sjögren's syndrome: Cause or consequence?
abstract: Sjögren's syndrome (SS) is an autoimmune disease most commonly characterized by ocular and oral dryness. Despite the high prevalence of SS, generation and perpetuation of this disease is still unclear in many aspects. Inflammation, nonetheless, seems to play a central role in this pathology especially in the form of Th-1, Th-2 and Th-17 cytokines release within different aspects, concentrations and connections involved in the maintenance of the syndrome. Moreover, the chronically created pro-inflammatory environment appears to promote glandular atrophy and irreparable architectural modifications. The establishment of germinal centers (GC) in SS are considered the main reason for the 16-times increased probability of lymphoproliferative disease development in these patients. SS is also interconnected with numerous others auto-inflammatory and autoimmune diseases, many of them representing the first clear sign of a dysregulated immune system. Despite the recent advances, treatment options are still insufficient. This overview aims to better elucidate this local and systemic disease, which can be of vital use not only for SS but also to other rheumatic pathological conditions.
authors.affiliation: a Department of Biochemistry , Faculty of Medicine, University of Porto , Porto , Portugal and.
authors.forename: Ana Raquel
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Rodrigues
authors.affiliation: a Department of Biochemistry , Faculty of Medicine, University of Porto , Porto , Portugal and.|b Instituto de Investigação e Inovação em Saúde da Universidade do Porto , Porto , Portugal.
authors.forename: Raquel
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Soares
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000893:Anti-Inflammatory Agents / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use; D017209:Apoptosis; D016207:Cytokines / Q000378:metabolism; D019468:Disease Management; D006801:Humans; D007249:Inflammation / Q000150:complications / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000628:therapy; D018836:Inflammation Mediators / Q000378:metabolism; D012469:Salivary Glands / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D012859:Sjogren's Syndrome / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology* / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000628:therapy; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D000893:Anti-Inflammatory Agents; D016207:Cytokines; D018836:Inflammation Mediators
keywords: Clinicopathological parameters; anti-inflammatory therapeutics; cytokines; inflammatory cells; plasmacytoid dendritic cells