Salivary immunoglobulins in progressive systemic sclerosis.

A study of salivary immunoglobulins revealed the presence of IgM in 11 out of 17 patients suffering from progressive systemic sclerosis. The presence of IgM was frequently accompanied by an increase in IgA and less often by IgG. Immunofluorescence examination of labial biopsies showed comparable modifications in the immunocyte populations; the presence of IgM cells, sometimes in large numbers, and an increase in IgA and IgG cells. All patients with a nodular lymphoplasmocyte infiltration of the minor salivary gland of the lip have salivary IgM. The presence of IgM in the saliva is a diagnostic criteria of Sjögren's syndrome. The absence of a correlation between immunoglobulin concentrations in the saliva and the serum and correlation between the salivary IgM concentration and the number of IgM immunocytes, demonstrate that the presence of IgM is related to the glandular synthesis of this enzyme.