Is minor salivary gland biopsy more than a diagnostic tool in primary Sjo¨gren׳s syndrome? Association between clinical, histopathological, and molecular features: A retrospective study

Unmasking the pathogenic role of IL-17 axis in primary Sjögren's syndrome: A new era for therapeutic targeting?

“…Since a subgroup of pSS patients may experience extra-glandular involvement and possibly lymphoma [3], several putative markers have been suggested in an attempt to identify patients at higher risk of severe clinical manifestation and, to date, the most reliable appears to be the presence of GC-like structures at the time of pSS diagnosis [67,68]. Ectopic lymphoneogenesis represents the histological evidence of T/Bcell cooperation leading to the formation of tertiary lymphoid structures in non-lymphoid organs and it is peculiar of several autoimmune disorders such as RA, T1D and pSS [69,70].…”

“…Since the degree of lymphoid organization is often associated to the extent of glandular involvement in pSS, a higher focus score is associated with a greater presence of GCs. Moreover, it has been reported that patients with GCs develop more likely extra-glandular involvement and possibly lymphoma [66,68,71] independent of other clinical, histological and serological features. Therefore, the identification of cell subsets or soluble molecules involved in triggering and/or maintaining lymphoneogenesis is an intriguing challenge.…”

Adipose tissue is prominent in salivary glands of Sjögren’s syndrome patients and appears to influence the microenvironment in these organs

“…However, until recently, only a few published studies have evaluated the diagnostic usefulness of SG biopsies in SS [15]. Carubbi et al [16] recently reported that different histopathological features and scoring of SG tissue reflect different degrees of inflammation and cytokine expression on one hand, and different clinical patterns, including the production of autoantibodies and extraglandular involvement on the other. Labial SG biopsy has high sensitivity, specificity, in addition Correspondence: Janicke Liaaen Jensen, Professor/Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeon, Faculty of Dentistry, Department of Oral Surgery and Oral Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.…”

Salivary Gland Pathology in Sjögren's Syndrome

“…3 Increased gene expression of those chemokines and their receptors correlates with B-cell accumulation and presence of GC in pSS salivary glands. 62 In a high proportion of pSS patients, the B cells present within salivary gland GCs lack the markers commonly found in typical GC B cells, such as CD10 and CD38. 63 A small percentage of pSS patients (approximately 5%) presents with CD21 1 CD38 1 B cells in the lymphoid infiltrates, consistent with the phenotype observed in chronically activated tonsillar GC B cells.…”