Primary Sjögren's syndrome: Autoantibodies and their relationship to clinical manifestations and histology of minor salivary glands

Introduction/Objective: To evaluate the association between autoantibodies with clinical manifestations (extraglandular and glandular) and histopathological findings of minor salivary gland biopsy in primary Sjögren's syndrome. Materials and methods: Observational, descriptive, and cross-sectional study. Forty-seven patients with primary Sjögren's syndrome according to the ACR/EULAR 2016 criteria were included. A face-to-face survey, a review of medical records, and the measurement of autoantibodies anti-Ro 52, anti-Ro 60, anti-La, antinuclear antibodies, rheumatoid factor IgA, IgG and IgM, and anti-alpha fodrin IgA and IgG were done. Characterization of the population and analysis of the association between clinical characteristics, autoantibodies, and histopathology were performed. Results: Association of anti-alpha fodrin IgA and anti-Ro 52 Ab was found with pulmonary involvement (P = .014 and P = .031 respectively) and anti-La antibodies with haematological manifestations, specifically leukopenia (P = .011), lymphopenia (P = .023), and anaemia (P = .09). We found no association between the histopathological findings of the minor salivary gland biopsy and extraglandular manifestations. Conclusions: The activation of B cells, reflected in the increased production of autoantibodies, is related to extraglandular manifestations in primary Sjögren's syndrome, which is observed more frequently in patients with earlier diagnosis.