News

Levels of BST-2 — a molecule involved in fighting virus infections — in salivary glands correlate with disease activity in patients with primary Sjögren’s syndrome, and may serve as a biomarker for diagnosing the condition, a study suggests. The study, “Aberrant expression of the innate restriction factor bone…

Half a year has gone by since disgraced pharma executive Martin Shkreli was sentenced to seven years in federal prison for securities and wire fraud while heading San Diego-based Retrophin. As founder and CEO of another company (then known as Turing Pharmaceuticals), in late 2015 Shkreli bought the rights…

Sjögren’s syndrome patients are more likely to experience both aortic aneurysms and aortic dissection — two medical complications that affect the wall of the aorta, the largest blood vessel in the body that carries blood from the heart to the rest of the body. The study with that finding,…

Cyclosporine A treatment improves vision and increases tear production in people with moderate-to-severe dry eye disease, including those with Sjögren’s syndrome, an Egyptian study shows. The research, “Efficacy and safety of using topical cyclosporine A for treatment of moderate to severe dry eye disease,” was published in…

Physicians in Cincinnati have reported the rare case of a woman whose first symptom of primary Sjögren’s syndrome was intracranial bleeding. While rare — only two similar cases have been described to date — increasing awareness about the neurological manifestations of the disease could lead to prompt treatment of these…

More than 700 medical experts, pharmaceutical executives, patient advocates, and others are expected to converge on Washington, D.C., next month for the 2018 NORD Rare Diseases & Orphan Products Breakthrough Summit. The Oct. 15-16 event, sponsored by the National Organization for Rare Diseases (NORD), takes place at the…

Larger differences in the size and volume of red blood cells — measured with a blood parameter called red blood cell distribution width — are linked to poor prognosis and survival in patients with primary Sjogren’s syndrome affected by pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), researchers found. Their study, “Red blood…

Patients with primary Sjögren’s syndrome (PSS) have stiffer arteries and more atherosclerotic plaques than control subjects without the disease, a study found. The findings suggest that PSS patients have a higher risk of cardiovascular diseases. The study, “Association between primary Sjogren’s syndrome, arterial stiffness, and subclinical atherosclerosis: a systematic review…

In Sjögren’s syndrome, chronic eye inflammation results in the inability of myoepithelial cells — components of the lacrimal glands thought to contract to expel tears — to contract, a mouse study shows. This study, “Myoepithelial cell-driven acini contraction in response to oxytocin receptor stimulation is impaired in lacrimal…

The newly proposed 2016 ACR-EULAR criteria can successfully diagnose primary Sjogren’s syndrome with 100% sensitivity, but the ethnicity of the study population influences its specificity, a Korean study reported. The study, “Performance of the 2016 ACR-EULAR classification criteria for primary Sjogren’s syndrome in a Korean cohort,” was published in…