Walsh & Hoyt: Sjogren's Syndrome

Sjogrens syndrome originally was described as a triad of dry eyes, dry mouth, and rheumatoid arthritis. It subsequently became apparent that Sjogrens syndrome could exist in association with a variety of other connective tissue diseases, including SLE and scleroderma (secondary Sjogrens syndrome) or as an isolated phenomenon (primary Sjogrens syndrome). The cause of the dry eyes and dry mouth in patients with Sjogrens syndrome is a monocular inflammatory infiltrate in the lacrimal and salivary glands resulting in destruction and dysfunction of these glands. Immunohistologic studies suggest that most of the cells in this infiltrate are T-lymphocytes of the helper/inducer subset (CD4+), with lesser numbers of suppressor/cytotoxic T-cells (CD8+) and B-cells.