Clinical and Developmental Immunology Volume 2013 (2013), Article ID 160491, 6 pages http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2013/160491
Review Article
The Immune Factors Involved in the Pathogenesis, Diagnosis, and Treatment of Sjogren's Syndrome
State Key Laboratory of Oral Diseases, West China Hospital of Stomatology, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, China
Received 3 May 2013; Accepted 20 June 2013
Academic Editor: Guixiu Shi
Copyright © 2013 Yi-fan Huang et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Abstract
Sjogren's syndrome (SS) is a systemic, autoimmune disorder characterized by salivary insufficiency and lymphocytic infiltration of the exocrine glands. Even though the mechanism of its pathology and progression has been researched ever since its discovery, the roles of different parts of immune system remain inconclusive. There is no straightforward and simple theory for the pathogenesis and diagnosis of Sjogren’s syndrome because of the multiple kinds and functions of autoantibodies, changing proportion of different T-lymphocyte subsets with the progression of disease, unsuspected abilities of B lymphocytes discovered recently, crosstalk between cytokines connecting the factors mentioned previously, and genetic predisposition that contributes to the initiation of this disease. On the other hand, the number of significant reports and open-label studies of B-cell depletion therapy showing clinical efficacy in sjogren’s syndrome has continued to accumulate, which provides a promising future for the patients. In a word, further elucidation of the role of different components of the immune system will open avenues for better diagnosis and treatment of SS, whose current management is still mainly supportive.
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