1 Background of Autoantibodies SSA/B Initial pioneering studies in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) noticed that patient sera could react with the nucleus of acetone-fixed nucleated cells using an immunofluorescent assay (IFA) ( Fig. 16.1 ). A series of different patterns…
1 Introduction Cytokines are the mediators of the immune system. They are small proteins of around 25 kD that are produced in response to a stimulus (ie, invading microbes) by numerous cell types. They mediate and regulate immune responses, inflammatory…
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1 Introduction In the last few decades, T lymphocytes have been widely investigated in the pathogenic scenario of autoimmune diseases. To date, a consistent body of evidence points out the key role of this arm of the immune system in…
1 Introduction Sjögren’s syndrome (SS) is an autoimmune disease with heterogeneous clinical pictures, which extend from benign local exocrinopathy that affects primarily the salivary and lachrymal glands to systemic disorder, and in approximately 5% of patients evolves to B-cell malignancies.…
1 Introduction The formation of periductal lymphocytic infiltrates within the inflamed salivary glands represents the histological hallmark of primary Sjögren’s syndrome (pSS). Lymphomonocytic aggregates can spread within the tissue, affecting salivary gland morphology and function. On a discrete percentage of…
1 Introduction Sjögren’s syndrome (SS) is a systemic, chronic, autoimmune, inflammatory condition involving the exocrine glands. First defined as “autoimmune epithelitis” by Moutsopoulos, SS is characterized by the presence of lymphocyte infiltrates in glandular tissue that might lead, over time,…
1 Introduction It is well established that environmental factors in concert with an appropriate genetic background play a fundamental role in triggering Sjögren’s syndrome (SS) leading to chronic inflammation of the target organs through different mechanisms, among which the molecular…
Acknowledgments In the past year Professor Simon Bowman has consulted for Eli Lilly, Takeda Pharmaceuticals, UCB, Novartis, Glenmark, Celgene, Medimmune, GSK, and Ono, and is in receipt of an Arthritis Research UK grant to which Roche Pharmaceuticals is contributing rituximab…
1 Spontaneous Models Most of the information from animal models of (Sjögren’s syndrome) SS derives from studies of inbred mouse strains or mice carrying specific genetic defects that spontaneously develop autoimmune sialadenitis. These included New Zealand black (NZB), NZB/New Zealand…