Department of Rheumatology and Immunology, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China.
Department of Endocrinology, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China.
Int Immunopharmacol. 2023 Sep;122:110567. doi: 10.1016/j.intimp.2023.110567. Epub 2023 Jul 5.
The pathogenesis of primary Sjögren's syndrome (pSS) remains unclear. Accumulating evidence suggests that an imbalance of multiple cytokines contributes to the occurrence and development of pSS. To our knowledge, there are few studies on the relationship between plasma cytokines and pSS clinical phenotype (including disease activity), and the available results are controversial. Cytokine-targeted therapy failed to achieve satisfactory effects.
We collected the demographic and clinical characteristics (laboratory indicators and clinical presentation) of pSS patients and calculated the European League Against Rheumatism SS disease activity index (ESSDAI) scores and ClinESSDAI. Associations between plasma cytokines and pSS continuous and categorical variables, and between various cytokines were analysed separately.
348 patients were finally included in the analysis, with a female to male ratio of 13.5:1. The disease activity was mild to moderate in 86.78% of patients, with the most and least involved organs being the exocrine glands and neurological system respectively. Among the various cytokines analysed, plasma interleukin(IL)-6 levels were elevated and correlated with a variety of inflammatory indicators and clinical manifestations. A weak positive correlation was found between IL - 10 and ESSDAI. Various degrees of correlation were observed between cytokines and clinical manifestations of pSS and between multiple cytokines.
Our study shows that different cytokines are closely associated with the clinical phenotype of pSS. Plasma IL-10 can be used to monitor pSS disease activity. Multiple cytokines form a systemic network and participate in the pathological process of pSS. This study provides a solid foundation for further exploring the pathogenesis of pSS and establishing more effective cytokine-targeted therapeutic regimens.
原发性干燥综合征（pSS）的发病机制尚不清楚。越来越多的证据表明，多种细胞因子的失衡导致了 pSS 的发生和发展。据我们所知，关于血浆细胞因子与 pSS 临床表型（包括疾病活动度）的关系的研究较少，且已有结果存在争议。细胞因子靶向治疗未能取得满意的效果。
我们收集了 pSS 患者的人口统计学和临床特征（实验室指标和临床表现），并计算了欧洲抗风湿病联盟干燥综合征疾病活动指数（ESSDAI）评分和 ClinESSDAI。分别分析了血浆细胞因子与 pSS 连续和分类变量之间以及各种细胞因子之间的关系。
最终有 348 例患者纳入分析，男女比例为 13.5:1。86.78%的患者病情处于轻中度活动，最常累及的器官和最少累及的器官分别为外分泌腺和神经系统。在分析的各种细胞因子中，血浆白细胞介素（IL）-6 水平升高，并与多种炎症指标和临床表现相关。IL-10 与 ESSDAI 呈弱正相关。细胞因子与 pSS 的临床表现之间以及多种细胞因子之间存在不同程度的相关性。
我们的研究表明，不同的细胞因子与 pSS 的临床表型密切相关。血浆 IL-10 可用于监测 pSS 的疾病活动度。多种细胞因子形成一个系统网络，参与 pSS 的病理过程。本研究为进一步探讨 pSS 的发病机制和建立更有效的细胞因子靶向治疗方案提供了坚实的基础。
