Autoantibodies in Sjögren's syndrome and its classification criteria

Sharon Veenbergen; Ana Kozmar; Paul L A van Daele; Marco W J Schreurs

doi:10.1016/j.jtauto.2021.100138

Autoantibodies in Sjögren's syndrome and its classification criteria

J Transl Autoimmun. 2021 Dec 27:5:100138. doi: 10.1016/j.jtauto.2021.100138. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Sharon Veenbergen¹, Ana Kozmar², Paul L A van Daele³, Marco W J Schreurs¹

Affiliations

¹ Laboratory of Medical Immunology, Department of Immunology, Erasmus MC, University Medical Center Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
² Department of Laboratory Diagnostics, University Hospital Center Zagreb, Croatia.
³ Department of Internal Medicine, Allergology & Clinical Immunology, Department of Immunology, Erasmus MC, University Medical Center Rotterdam, The Netherlands.

Abstract

Sjögren's syndrome (SS) is a systemic autoimmune disease characterized by immune-mediated injury of exocrine glands. Extensive lymphocytic infiltrates may contribute to the destruction and loss of secretory function of glands. B-cell hyperactivity is a key feature of the disease resulting in the production of a diverse array of autoantibodies in these patients. Although not specific for SS, anti-Ro/SSA and anti-La/SSB antibodies have been useful biomarkers for disease classification and diagnosis. During recent years, novel autoantibodies have been discovered in SS. In this review, we summarize the historical role and clinical relevance that autoantibodies have played in the classification criteria of Sjögren's syndrome, discuss laboratory aspects in antibody detection and review the role of novel autoantibodies in predicting particular stages of the disease, clinical phenotypes and long-term complications.

Keywords: Autoantibodies; Classification criteria; Sjögren's syndrome.