Circulating immune complexes, immunoglobulin G, salivary proteins and salivary immunoglobulin A in patients with Sjögren's syndrome

Abstract

Introduction. Sjögren's syndrome (SS) is a chronic autoimmune disorder, with its major clinical manifestations resulting from changes in exocrine glands. Objective The aim of this study was to evaluate serum concentrations of circulating immune complexes (CIC) and immunoglobulin G (IgG), and salivary proteins (SP) and salivary immunoglobulin A (sIgA) in 40 patients with SS, and to correlate these values among themselves, as well as with the unstimulated salivary flow rate (USFR) and the duration of disease. Methods. The total of 40 patients were included in this research. CIC was determined using the solution of polyethylene glycol and IgG with the standard procedure of radial immunodiffusion. SP was investigated by the method of Lowry and sIgA was separated from the whole saliva using the method of immune chromatography. Results. The values of most of the studied parameters exceeded the normal range in a high degree: CIC 72.5%, IgG 70%, SP 80%. The concentrations of CIC were significantly higher in the patients with the duration of disease less than 10 years. With the decrease of USFR, the concentration of sIgA and IgG were increased with statistical significance. Conclusion The increased prevalence of abnormal values of CIC, IgG and SP indicate that the patients with SS have developed a higher level of immune reactivity. These results could be useful in diagnosis and disease activity monitoring.

Uvod. Sjegrenov (Sjögren) sindrom (SS) je hronična autoimuna bolest koja nastaje usled patoloških promena u egzokrinim žlezdama. Cilj rada Cilj rada je bio da se koncentracije cirkulatornih imunih kompleksa (CIC) i imunoglobulina G (IgG) u serumu, kao i salivarnih proteina (SP) i salivarnog IgA (sIgA) u pljuvački uporede međusobno i u odnosu na stepen protoka nestimulisane pljuvačke (USFR) i trajanja bolesti. Metode rada. Istraživanje je obuhvatilo 40 bolesnika sa SS. CIC je bio određen korišćenjem rastvora polietilenglikola, a IgG standardnim postupkom radijalne imunodifuzije. SP su izolovani metodom po Loriju (Lowry), dok je sIgA izdvojen iz ukupne pljuvačke korišćenjem metode imune hromatografije. Rezultati. Koncentracije većine ispitanih parametara su u velikoj meri odstupale od njihovih normalnih vrednosti: CIC 72,5%, IgG 70%, SP 80%. Koncentracije CIC su bile statistički značajno veće kod bolesnika čija je bolest trajala manje od 10 godina. Sa smanjenjem USFR koncentracije sIgA i IgG su se povećavale sa statističkom značajnošću. Zaključak. Povećane koncentracije CIC, IgG i SP kod bolesnika sa SS upućuju na povišen nivo imunološke reaktivnosti. Podaci dobijeni u ovom istraživanju mogu biti korisni prilikom posmatranja aktivnosti i dinamike promena kod SS.