Sjögren's Syndrome (SjS) is a chronic systemic immune-mediated inflammatory disease characterized by lymphocytic infiltration and consequent lesion of exocrine glands. SjS diagnosis and classification remains a challenge, especially at SjS onset, when patients may have milder phenotypes of the disease or uncommon presentations. New biomarkers are needed for the classification of SjS, thus, we aimed to evaluate ...
Sjögren's Syndrome (SjS) is a chronic systemic immune-mediated inflammatory disease characterized by lymphocytic infiltration and consequent lesion of exocrine glands. SjS diagnosis and classification remains a challenge, especially at SjS onset, when patients may have milder phenotypes of the disease or uncommon presentations. New biomarkers are needed for the classification of SjS, thus, we aimed to evaluate ...
Sjögren's syndrome (SjS) is characterized by lymphocytic infiltration of exocrine glands, i.e. autoimmune epithelitis. Lymphocytes are central in SjS pathogenesis, with B-cell hyperactivity mediated by T-cells. B-cells are main targets of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infection, a frequently-suggested trigger for SjS. We aimed to evaluate how the EBV infection modulates B and T-cell subsets in SjS, including as cont...
Objectives: Sjögren's syndrome (SjS) patients exhibit great phenotypical heterogeneity, reinforced by the positiveness of anti-SSA antibody. We aimed to evaluate lymphocyte subpopulations in SSA-positive (SSA+SjS) and SSA-negative (SSA-SjS) SjS patients, Sicca patients, and healthy controls (HC), and to investigate associations between lymphocyte subpopulations and disease activity in SjS. Methods: According to...
Purpose: To assess and compare corneal sub-basal nerve plexus morphology with circulating lymphocyte subsets, immunologic status and disease activity in Sjögren syndrome (SjS) patients. Methods: Fifty-five SjS patients, 63 Sicca patients (not fulfilling SjS criteria), 18 rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients and 20 healthy controls (HC) were included. Systemic disease activity in SjS was assessed with the ESSDAI s...
B-cells play a pivotal role in primary Sjögren's syndrome (pSS) pathogenesis. We aim to (1) evaluate the distribution of B-lymphocyte subpopulations in pSS and Sicca patients, (2) establish cut-off points that discriminate pSS from controls, (3) evaluate the association between memory B-cells and phenotypic features in pSS. We included 57 pSS patients, 68 Sicca and 24 healthy controls. Circulating B-cells were ...
Biotechnological drugs have become a fundamental resource for the treatment of rheumatic patients. Patent expiry of some of these drugs created the opportunity for biopharmaceutical manufacturers to develop biosimilar drugs intended to be as efficacious as the originator product but with a lower cost to healthcare systems. Due to the complex manufacturing process and highly intricate structure of biologicals, a...
To explain the missing heritability after the genome-wide association studies era, sequencing studies allow the identification of low-frequency variants with a stronger effect on disease risk. Common variants in the interleukin 10 gene (IL10) have been consistently associated with Behçet's disease (BD) and the goal of this study is to investigate the role of low-frequency IL10 variants in BD susceptibility.
Behçet's disease (BD) is a complex disease with genetic and environmental risk factors implicated in its etiology; however, its pathophysiology is poorly understood. To decipher BD's genetic underpinnings, we combined gene expression profiling with pathway analysis and association studies. We compared the gene expression profiles in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) of 15 patients and 14 matched contro...