Lymphocyte response to staphylococcal enterotoxin B in patients with annular erythema associated with Sjögren syndrome.

Lymphocyte response to staphylococcal enterotoxin B (SEB) was analysed in 11 cases with Sjögren syndrome (SjS) who developed annular erythema during the course. Increased lymphocyte response against SEB was observed on day 5 in those patients who developed annular erythema at the time of examination. A similar reaction pattern was observed when Con A and PWM, but not protein A, were used as the mitogen. No significant lymphocyte response was observed in the patients in the inactive stage without annular erythema or in normal controls. Furthermore, peripheral blood lymphocytes express LFA-1 after SEB stimulation. These results suggest that lymphocytes from SjS patients react to various types of antigenic or mitogenic stimulation and that they express cell adhesion molecules, especially in patients with active annular erythema.