The addition of data on novel autoantibodies may improve the accuracy of screening dry eye patients for Sjögren’s syndrome, according to research led by Dr Vatinee Bunya from the Penn Dry Eye and Ocular Surface Center in the US.
Sjögren’s syndrome (SS) is an underdiagnosed autoimmune disease, dry eye being one of its most common symptoms, explained Kennedy Johnson, a clinical research coordinator at the University of Pennsylvania. Presenting the findings at the 2021 meeting of the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO), Johnson said that because dry eye is such a prevalent condition, it is not practical to check all patients with dry eye for SS.
Despite anti-Sjögren’s-syndrome-related antigens A and B (SSA, SSB), antinuclear antibody (ANA) and rheumatoid factor (RF) related antigens A and B having being traditionally used to diagnose SS, Johnson said these are neither specific to the condition, nor are they seen in every SS patient. However, a 2010 study by the State University of New York at Buffalo concluded that autoantibodies to Ro and La (anti-SSA/Ro and anti-La/SSB) are hallmarks of primary Sjögren's syndrome (pSS) and present in 60-70% of SS patients. These autoantibodies – along with antibodies for salivary protein (SP), parotid secretory protein (PSP) and carbonic anhydrase isoenzyme VI (CA-6) – which mistakenly attack the body’s own secreted proteins, may be novel markers for SS, said Johnson. In mouse studies these novel antibodies were also detected earlier in the development of the disease.
“In the future, once the algorithm has been validated, it may serve as an effective screening tool to identify patients with Sjögren’s syndrome at a younger age, thus leading to earlier diagnosis,” said Johnson.
