News

People with Sjögren’s syndrome are more likely to require inpatient hospital care for infections acquired in the community, especially those of the airways and intestines, according to a large nationwide French study. “[Sjögren’s] patients had a significantly higher incidence rate of hospitalization for bronchopulmonary infections compared with matched [healthy…

Cytotoxic CD8+ T-cells, a type of immune cells, build up in the salivary glands of the lips of patients with severe Sjögren’s syndrome, where they may kill the epithelial cells that line the glands, according to a new study. As these cells die, the glands no longer can produce…

A protein called ETS1 is present in large amounts in cells in the salivary glands of patients with Sjögren’s syndrome, where it may turn on a switch to make more of MMP-9, another protein that has been implicated in the early development of the disease, a study found. Researchers…

The investigational therapy dazodalibep markedly eased disease activity in people with Sjögren’s syndrome with moderate-to-high systemic disease activity, meeting the primary goal of a Phase 2 trial. Ahead of expectations, the therapy’s developer, Horizon Therapeutics, plans to work with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to design…

A non-invasive imaging technique called in vivo confocal microscopy, or IVCM for short, was found to detect changes in the density and structure of nerve fibers in the cornea of the eyes in adults with Sjögren’s syndrome. IVCM’s ability to detect such changes in the corneal nerves support its…

The anti-malaria medication artesunate could be a potential treatment of Sjögren’s syndrome, a study suggested. In mouse and cellular models, artesunate showed an ability to inhibit inflammatory T-helper 17 (Th17) cells and ease Sjögren’s symptoms. The study, “Artesunate suppresses Th17 response via inhibiting IRF4- mediated glycolysis…

Memory complaints in people with primary Sjögren’s syndrome are linked to global cognitive impairment — problems affecting not only memory but also other mental faculties, according to data from a small study. While researchers noted that “associated psychiatric and sleep disorders greatly interfere” with cognition in Sjögren’s patients, they…

Ten new genetic regions, or loci, were found to be linked to an increased risk of Sjögren’s syndrome in people whose ancestry traces to Europe, according to a genome-wide association study (GWAS). These findings nearly double the total number of known risk loci from 12 to 22, in what…

An ultrasound evaluation of salivary gland damage may help the stratification of primary Sjögren’s syndrome patients and aid the design of future clinical trials, according to a recent study. The study, “Discriminative power of salivary gland ultrasound in relation to symptom-based endotypes in suspected and definite…

Higher-than-normal blood levels of uric acid, a body waste product, significantly raise the risk of hypertension among people with primary Sjögren’s syndrome (pSS), a study found. Findings suggest that monitoring uric acid levels may be one way to manage hypertension, or high blood pressure, to avoid cardiovascular problems arising later…