News

Decreased levels of memory B-cells, a kind of white blood cell, may help diagnose patients with primary Sjögren’s syndrome and determine the severity of their disease, a new study shows. Tests based on memory B-cell levels potentially could be used as disease markers for predicting outcomes and tracking the effect…

The average time for a patient to be diagnosed with Sjögren’s syndrome has been reduced from six to less than three years, meeting the “5-Year Breakthrough Goal” established by the Sjögren’s Syndrome Foundation in January 2012. Patients should benefit greatly from this milestone,…

A little-known government entity within the National Institutes of Health (NIH) is helping to lead U.S. efforts to speed up the development of therapies for some 7,000 rare diseases. The Office of Rare Diseases Research (ORDR), headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, was established in 1993 within the NIH Office of the…

Monoclonal gammopathy, a condition marked by an unusual protein produced in plasma cells and one that can progress to a blood cancer, is evident in patients with Sjögren syndrome and certain other rheumatic diseases, a Chinese study found. Sjögren patients with highly active disease are more likely…

Low salivary secretion contributes more to the altered oral microbiome found in people with primary Sjogren’s syndrome (pSS) than does the underlying disease, a Dutch study shows. The research, “Reduced salivary secretion contributes more to changes in the oral microbiome of patients with primary Sjögren’s syndrome than underlying disease,”…

With April designated as Sjögren’s Awareness Month, the Sjögren’s Syndrome Foundation hopes patients will be a part of the movement and help educate loved ones and others about the disease. The Sjögren’s Syndrome Foundation works to educate people about this debilitating disease and how it affects the lives…

Wize Pharma has enrolled the first participant in a Phase 4 clinical trial investigating the company’s LO2A drops to prevent the dry eye seen in Sjogren’s syndrome. The trial (NCT03319420) in Israel will compare LO2A’s ability to relieve dry eyes with that of an over-the-counter treatment known as Systane…

Musculoskeletal ultrasound is better than clinical examination and blood tests for the best management of  hand arthritis in Sjogren’s syndrome patients, according to a new study. The findings were presented recently at the European Lupus Meeting 2018, in Düsseldorf, Germany, in an abstract titled “PS6:120 Hand ultrasound guided therapeutic decisions…

Treatment with ciclosporin A — an anti-inflammatory medication — significantly improved the signs and symptoms of patients with moderate-to-severe dry eye disease (DED), including those with Sjögren’s syndrome, an analysis of two Phase 3 studies shows. The study, “Efficacy and safety of 0.1% ciclosporin A cationic emulsion in…

Autophagy — a physiological process that involves the destruction of old or diseased cells in the body, maintaining normal functions by protein degradation — is impaired in the salivary glands of patients with Sjogren’s syndrome, but may be corrected through the use of a potential therapy called P140 peptide, according…