Article
Endocrinology & Metabolism
S. Rastelli, M. D'Amario, E. Iacomino, M. Lacarbonara, D. Guerra, M. Capogreco
Summary: Sjogren's Syndrome is a systemic autoimmune disease that mainly affects women in the age group of 50-80 years, causing glandular secretory disorders and significantly impacting the patient's quality of life. Early diagnosis plays a crucial role.
JOURNAL OF BIOLOGICAL REGULATORS AND HOMEOSTATIC AGENTS
(2022)
Article
Medicine, General & Internal
Ana Isabel Lopes, Raquel Machado-Neves, Mrinalini Honavar, P. Ricardo Pereira
Summary: The minor salivary glands' biopsy is an effective and simple diagnostic procedure for Sjogren's syndrome and amyloidosis. Its use can increase the number of patients meeting the classification criteria for Sjogren's syndrome and appears to be useful in diagnosing amyloidosis.
EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF INTERNAL MEDICINE
(2021)
Article
Immunology
Akinsola Oyelakin, Erich Horeth, Eun-Ah Christine Song, Sangwon Min, Monika Che, Brandon Marzullo, Christopher J. Lessard, Astrid Rasmussen, Lida Radfar, R. Hal Scofield, David M. Lewis, Donald U. Stone, Kiely Grundahl, Scott S. De Rossi, Zoya Kurago, A. Darise Farris, Kathy L. Sivils, Satrajit Sinha, Jill M. Kramer, Rose-Anne Romano
Summary: Primary Sjogren's syndrome is a systemic autoimmune disease primarily affecting women, leading to loss of saliva and tears. Currently, there is no effective cure due to limited understanding of disease etiology and pathology.
FRONTIERS IN IMMUNOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Rheumatology
Simon Parreau, Gaetane Nocturne, Xavier Mariette, Barbara Burroni, Thierry Lazure, Florent L. Besson, Alexis Regent, Luc Mouthon, Benjamin Terrier, Raphaele Seror, Veronique Le Guern
Summary: This study evaluated the role of minor salivary gland biopsy histology in diagnosing primary SS-associated non-Hodgkin B-cell lymphoma. The results showed that mSGB histology enabled NHL diagnosis in half of the patients with suspected NHL, with 95.8% of cases identified as MALT lymphomas.
Article
Immunology
Tamandeep K. K. Bharaj, Lara A. A. Aqrawi, Siren Fromreide, Roland Jonsson, Johan G. G. Brun, Silke Appel, Kathrine Skarstein
Summary: A study stratified 85 patients to investigate the heterogeneity of minor salivary glands in primary Sjogren's syndrome, identifying variations in tissue characteristics, immune cell proportions, and clinical correlations at different disease stages.
FRONTIERS IN IMMUNOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Ioanna E. Stergiou, Loukas Chatzis, Asimina Papanikolaou, Stavroula Giannouli, Athanasios G. Tzioufas, Michael Voulgarelis, Efstathia K. Kapsogeorgou
Summary: The Akt pathway is specifically activated in MSGs of pSS patients, providing support for novel therapeutic targets.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR SCIENCES
(2021)
Article
Immunology
Donghyun Kim, Ye Jin Jeong, Yerin Lee, Jihoon Choi, Young Min Park, Oh Chan Kwon, Yong Woo Ji, Sung Jun Ahn, Hyung Keun Lee, Min-Chan Park, Jae-Yol Lim
Summary: Recent studies have shown that the oral microbiome in patients with Sjogren's syndrome (SS) differs significantly from that in healthy individuals. The composition and diversity of the oral microbiome are correlated with clinical features of SS, especially ductal structures and salivary flow, suggesting that the oral microbiome may serve as a potential diagnostic biomarker for SS.
FRONTIERS IN IMMUNOLOGY
(2022)
Review
Rheumatology
Valerie Devauchelle-Pensec, Alen Zabotti, Guillermo Carvajal-Alegria, Nenad Filipovic, Sandrine Jousse-Joulin, Salvatore De Vita
Summary: Salivary gland ultrasonography plays an important role in detecting structural abnormalities in primary Sjogren's Syndrome, and could potentially be used for classification. The ongoing HarmonicSS project, supported by the EU, aims to apply artificial intelligence to SGUS in pSS for future study. Many questions remain unresolved, but data collected so far suggest that SGUS will be a significant tool in the study of pSS in the near future.
Article
Dentistry, Oral Surgery & Medicine
M. C. Hesterman, S. V. Furrer, B. S. Fallon, M. L. Weller
Summary: This study found that hepatitis delta virus (HDV) was detected in the minor salivary gland (MSG) tissue of Sjogren's disease (SjD) patients without hepatitis B virus (HBV) coinfection. The expression of HDV antigen (HDAg) can trigger an SjD-like phenotype in vivo. HDAg was detected in different cell types and subcellular locations in the MSG, and HDV genomic RNA was localized in the MSG nuclei. The intensity of HDAg showed negative correlations with lymphocytic inflammation and certain autoimmune disease comorbidities in SjD patients.
JOURNAL OF DENTAL RESEARCH
(2023)
Article
Immunology
Hongming Du, Zhen Fu, Yi Zhong, Yi Yuan, Jing Zhao, Xu Ding, Sheng Li, Shiyu Gao, Yuchi Zhu, Haiyang Song, Heming Wu
Summary: This study aimed to investigate the effects of triamcinolone acetonide (TA) and saline irrigation on relieving xerostomia in Sjogren's syndrome (SS) patients. The results showed that irrigating the major salivary glands with TA or saline led to improved saliva flow and reduced dryness symptoms. Patients with milder xerostomia responded better to the treatment.
FRONTIERS IN IMMUNOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Iris Y. K. Tang, Carmen T. K. Ho, Teresa W. L. Li, Philip H. Li
Summary: This article presents a standardized approach to diagnostic salivary gland ultrasonography (SGUS) for Sjogren's syndrome (SS) in daily clinical settings. SGUS is a non-invasive imaging modality that can aid in the diagnosis and monitoring of SS. The article explains the stepwise approach for scanning the major salivary glands and examines various features of the glands and lymph nodes. The most distinctive sonographic feature in SS is glandular heterogeneity with the presence of hypoechoic/hyperechoic areas within the glands.
JOVE-JOURNAL OF VISUALIZED EXPERIMENTS
(2023)
Article
Immunology
Geoffrey Urbanski, Floris Chabrun, Estelle Delattre, Carole Lacout, Brittany Davidson, Odile Blanchet, Juan Manuel Chao de la Barca, Gilles Simard, Christian Lavigne, Pascal Reynier
Summary: This study aimed to find early biomarkers of primary Sjogren's syndrome in labial salivary gland using metabolomics and machine-learning approaches. A discriminant signature composed of six metabolites, including the immune-metabolite kynurenine and five phospholipids, accurately predicted primary Sjogren's syndrome status. These findings demonstrate the potential of an immuno-lipidomic signature in labial salivary gland as an accurate diagnostic tool for early primary Sjogren's syndrome.
FRONTIERS IN IMMUNOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Immunology
Daniela Jara, Patricia Carvajal, Isabel Castro, Maria-Jose Barrera, Sergio Aguilera, Sergio Gonzalez, Claudio Molina, Marcela Hermoso, Maria-Julieta Gonzalez
Summary: Sjogren's syndrome is an autoimmune disease affecting salivary glands with overactivation of the type I interferon pathway. Decreased levels of hsa-miR-145-5p in SS patients lead to upregulation of MUC1 and TLR4, contributing to salivary gland inflammation and dysfunction. Type I interferons play a role in downregulating hsa-miR-145-5p expression, highlighting their involvement in perpetuating inflammation in SS patients.
FRONTIERS IN IMMUNOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Fredrik Fineide, Xiangjun Chen, Thomas Bjellaas, Valeria Vitelli, Tor Paaske Utheim, Janicke Liaaen Jensen, Hilde Kanli Galtung
Summary: The study revealed significant differences in the lipidomic profiles of saliva and tears in pSS patients compared to healthy controls, with individual lipid species in stimulated saliva showing similarities to glandular biopsies. This opens up intriguing avenues for further research and may lead to innovative diagnostic methodologies and treatment modalities for alleviating pSS-related sicca symptoms.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR SCIENCES
(2021)
Article
Rheumatology
Xiaomin Chen, Shan Jiang, Zihao Zhou, Xin Xu, Senhong Ying, Lifeng Du, Kairui Qiu, Yesha Xu, Jinyu Wu, Xiaobing Wang
Summary: The study found a significant upregulation of IL-21-inducible genes in the minor salivary glands of pSS patients, which correlated with disease activity and cell subset enrichment. IL-21 scores were positively associated with antibody positivity and high IgG levels, while hypoxia and IFN-related genes showed strong correlation with IL-21 signature gene expression.
Review
Immunology
Loukas Chatzis, Panayiotis G. Vlachoyiannopoulos, Athanasios G. Tzioufas, Andreas Goules
Summary: Sjogren's syndrome poses challenges due to its diverse clinical presentation, ineffective treatments, and association with lymphoma. The use of biomarkers for early diagnosis and targeted treatment may lead to a shift towards precision medicine in the management of patients. Current research is focused on defining high-risk patient clusters and linking clinical manifestations with molecular mechanisms in disease pathogenesis.
EXPERT REVIEW OF CLINICAL IMMUNOLOGY
(2021)
Review
Immunology
Foteini Karakontaki, Efstratios S. Panselinas, Vlasios S. Polychronopoulos, Athanasios G. Tzioufas
Summary: Autoimmune rheumatic diseases (ARD) involve multiple organ systems, including the lungs, where Interstitial Lung Disease (ILD) is a common manifestation. Current first-line treatments include corticosteroids and immunosuppressive drugs, while targeted therapies like biological DMARDS and anti-fibrotic agents are emerging as new options for treatment.
AUTOIMMUNITY REVIEWS
(2021)
Review
Immunology
Roberto Giacomelli, Antonella Afeltra, Elena Bartoloni, Onorina Berardicurti, Michele Bombardieri, Alessandra Bortoluzzi, Francesco Carubbi, Francesco Caso, Ricard Cervera, Francesco Ciccia, Paola Cipriani, Emmanuel Coloma-Bazan, Fabrizio Conti, Luisa Costa, Salvatore D'Angelo, Oliver Distler, Eugen Feist, Nathan Foulquier, Marco Gabini, Vanessa Gerber, Roberto Gerli, Rosa Daniela Grembiale, Giuliana Guggino, Ariela Hoxha, Annamaria Iagnocco, Suzana Jordan, Bashar Kahaleh, Kim Lauper, Vasiliki Liakouli, Ennio Lubrano, Domenico Margiotta, Saverio Naty, Luca Navarini, Federico Perosa, Carlo Perricone, Roberto Perricone, Marcella Prete, Jacques-Olivier Pers, Costantino Pitzalis, Roberta Priori, Felice Rivellese, Amelia Ruffatti, Piero Ruscitti, Raffaele Scarpa, Yehuda Shoenfeld, Giovanni Triolo, Athanasios Tzioufas
Summary: Autoimmune diseases share common clinical features but have different pathogenic mechanisms and targeted organs. Applying precision medicine principles may improve treatment success by tailoring therapy to individual characteristics and reducing adverse events.
AUTOIMMUNITY REVIEWS
(2021)
Article
Geriatrics & Gerontology
Soledad Retamozo, Chiara Baldini, Hendrika Bootsma, Salvatore De Vita, Thomas Doerner, Benjamin A. Fisher, Jacques-Eric Gottenberg, Gabriela Hernandez-Molina, Agnes Kocher, Belchin Kostov, Aike A. Kruize, Thomas Mandl, Wan-Fai Ng, Raphaele Seror, Yehuda Shoenfeld, Antoni Siso-Almirall, Athanasios G. Tzioufas, Arjan Vissink, Claudio Vitali, Simon J. Bowman, Xavier Mariette, Manuel Ramos-Casals, Pilar Brito-Zeron
Summary: Primary Sjogren's syndrome is a systemic autoimmune disease commonly diagnosed in middle-aged women, with two-thirds of patients diagnosed between 30 and 60 years old. Older patients are more likely to have organ-related comorbidities and require caution when using various medications. A thorough evaluation of medical history is essential for older patients when prescribing drugs included in the EULAR guidelines, with specific attention to factors commonly associated with aging.
Letter
Rheumatology
Aimilios Kaklamanos, Panagiotis Karamichalos, Panayiotis G. Vlachoyiannopoulos, Athanasios G. Tzioufas
ANNALS OF THE RHEUMATIC DISEASES
(2023)
Article
Immunology
Loukas Chatzis, Andreas Goules, Vasilis Pezoulas, Chiara Baldini, Saviana Gandolfo, Fotini N. Skopouli, Themis P. Exarchos, Efstathia K. Kapsogeorgou, Valentina Donati, Paraskevi V. Voulgari, Clio P. Mavragani, Vasilis Gorgoulis, Salvatore De Vita, Dimitrios Fotiadis, Michalis Voulgarelis, Haralampos M. Moutsopoulos, Athanasios G. Tzioufas
Summary: The study aimed to explore the role of LMSG focus score (FS) in stratifying SS patients, with findings identifying FS, cryoglobulinemia, and salivary gland enlargement (SGE) as independent lymphoma-associated risk factors. Patients with FS >= 4 had a shorter time interval to lymphoma diagnosis and were more likely to develop B cell origin manifestations and lymphoma. These results suggest that FS evaluated at the time of SS diagnosis may serve as a predictive biomarker for early diagnosis of SS-associated lymphomas.
JOURNAL OF AUTOIMMUNITY
(2021)
Review
Immunology
Athanasios-Dimitrios Bakasis, Clio P. Mavragani, Kyriaki A. Boki, Athanasios G. Tzioufas, Panayiotis G. Vlachoyiannopoulos, Ioanna E. Stergiou, Fotini N. Skopouli, Haralampos M. Moutsopoulos
Summary: While most AARD patients experienced a mild course of COVID-19, certain underlying disease features and COVID-19 related manifestations should alert physicians to identify high-risk patients and the need for hospitalization.
JOURNAL OF AUTOIMMUNITY
(2021)
Article
Rheumatology
Dimitris Anastasios Palamidas, Ourania D. Argyropoulou, Natalia Georgantzoglou, Elli Karatza, Evangelia Xingi, Efstathia K. Kapsogeorgou, Constantinos D. Anagnostopoulos, Andreas C. Lazaris, Konstantinos Ritis, Andreas Goules, Konstantinos Kambas, Athanasios G. Tzioufas
Summary: This study explores the presence of neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) in inflamed temporal artery biopsies (TABs) of patients with GCA. The results demonstrate the presence of NETs and NETs bearing pro-inflammatory cytokines in TABs of GCA patients.
Article
Virology
Konstantinos Belogiannis, Venetia A. Florou, Paraskevi C. Fragkou, Stefanos Ferous, Loukas Chatzis, Aikaterini Polyzou, Nefeli Lagopati, Demetrios Vassilakos, Christos Kittas, Athanasios G. Tzioufas, Sotirios Tsiodras, George Sourvinos, Vassilis G. Gorgoulis
Summary: Humoral immunity plays a crucial role in combating SARS-CoV-2, yet some recovered COVID-19 patients with mild or no symptoms may not produce antibody responses, potentially due to the competitive format of immunodiagnostic assays in the context of antigenemia. A case study showed prolonged antigenemia/viremia masked humoral responses, with seroconversion occurring late in the disease course, challenging the notion of 'non-responders' in certain cases.
Review
Immunology
Panayiotis G. Vlachoyiannopoulos, Loukas G. Chatzis, Andreas Goules, Ourania D. Argyropoulou, Adamantia Englezopoulou, Ioanna Stergiou, Michalis Voulgarelis, Panayiotis Tsanakas, Themis Exarchos, Vassilis V. Gorgoulis, Dimitrios Fotiadis, Athanasios G. Tzioufas
Summary: This article presents a literature review on the basic characteristics of a center of excellence dedicated to SARDs, its advantages over existing health infrastructures, its contribution to healthcare worker education, and the research opportunities it provides. The authors also share their experience, vision, and initiatives as a new member of the ERNs.
EXPERT REVIEW OF CLINICAL IMMUNOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Vasileios C. Pezoulas, Andreas Goules, Fanis Kalatzis, Luke Chatzis, Konstantina D. Kourou, Aliki Venetsanopoulou, Themis P. Exarchos, Saviana Gandolfo, Konstantinos Votis, Evi Zampeli, Jan Burmeister, Thorsten May, Manuel Marcelino Perez, Iryna Lishchuk, Thymios Chondrogiannis, Vassiliki Andronikou, Theodora Varvarigou, Nenad Filipovic, Manolis Tsiknakis, Chiara Baldini, Michele Bombardieri, Hendrika Bootsma, Simon J. Bowman, Muhammad Shahnawaz Soyfoo, Dorian Parisis, Christine Delporte, Valerie Devauchelle-Pensec, Jacques-Olivier Pers, Thomas Doerner, Elena Bartoloni, Roberto Gerli, Roberto Giacomelli, Roland Jonsson, Wan-Fai Ng, Roberta Priori, Manuel Ramos-Casals, Kathy Sivils, Fotini Skopouli, Witte Torsten, Joel A. G. van Roon, Mariette Xavier, Salvatore De Vita, Athanasios G. Tzioufas, Dimitrios Fotiadis
Summary: This article presents the HarmonicSS cloud computing exemplar platform, which provides state-of-the-art data analytics services to address the clinical unmet needs of primary Sjogren's Syndrome (pSS). The platform successfully develops lymphoma classification models and identifies biomarkers for lymphomagenesis by interlinking, curating, and harmonizing multiple regional and international databases. The federated AI algorithms trained on the harmonized databases yield robust lymphoma classification models with high accuracy and identify 5 biomarkers for lymphoma development.
COMPUTATIONAL AND STRUCTURAL BIOTECHNOLOGY JOURNAL
(2022)
Article
Endocrinology & Metabolism
Georgios Boutzios, Eleni Koukoulioti, Andreas V. Goules, Ioannis Kalliakmanis, Ilias Giovannopoulos, Panayiotis Vlachoyiannopoulos, Haralampos M. Moutsopoulos, Athanasios G. Tzioufas
Summary: This study reveals an association of APCA with organ-specific autoimmunity in HT patients for the first time. APCA and patient age were independently associated with the presence of organ-specific autoimmunity. Additionally, this study showed an association between APCA and gastric neoplasms in these patients.
FRONTIERS IN ENDOCRINOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Immunology
Athanasios-Dimitrios Bakasis, Clio P. Mavragani, Paraskevi V. Voulgari, Nafsika Gerolymatou, Ourania D. Argyropoulou, Panayiotis G. Vlachoyiannopoulos, Fotini N. Skopouli, Athanasios G. Tzioufas, Haralampos M. Moutsopoulos
Summary: This observational study reports the clinical features and outcomes of COVID-19 in patients with systemic autoimmune and autoinflammatory rheumatic diseases (SAARD) who were unvaccinated or received 2 or 3 doses of the SARS-CoV-2 vaccine. The study found that vaccination with 2 or 3 doses significantly reduced hospitalizations and the need for oxygen supplementation in COVID-19 patients with SAARD. Furthermore, the study showed that receiving 3 doses of the vaccine was associated with a significantly lower risk of severe/critical COVID-19.
JOURNAL OF AUTOIMMUNITY
(2022)
Article
Immunology
Theodoros Androutsakos, Theodoros A. Voulgaris, Athanasios-Dimitrios Bakasis, Maria-Loukia Koutsompina, Loukas Chatzis, Ourania D. Argyropoulou, Vasilis Pezoulas, Dimitrios I. Fotiadis, George Papatheodoridis, Athanasios G. Tzioufas, Andreas V. Goules
Summary: This study explored the occurrence of liver fibrosis (LF) in primary Sjogren syndrome (pSS) patients in the context of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). The results showed that pSS patients had a lower prevalence of liver steatosis and significant liver fibrosis compared to the comparators. Advanced LF was significantly associated with older age, higher LS, greater BMI, and disease status, with age being identified as an independent LF risk factor.
FRONTIERS IN IMMUNOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Rheumatology
S. Lionaki, S. Marinaki, S. Fragkioudaki, I Bellos, E. Kalaitzakis, P. Kalogeropoulos, G. Liapis, A. G. Tzioufas, J. N. Boletis
Summary: This study aimed to explore the impact of a past medical history of autoimmune disease on the clinical presentation and outcomes of patients with antineutrophil cytoplasmic autoantibodies associated vasculitis. The results showed that patients with a history of autoimmune disease had significantly fewer relapses after achieving remission.
CLINICAL AND EXPERIMENTAL RHEUMATOLOGY
(2022)