Prevalence and spectrum of symptomatic pulmonary involvement in primary Sjögren's syndrome.

Objectives: The present cross-sectional study aimed to estimate the prevalence of chronic respiratory symptoms in primary Sjögren's syndrome (pSS) and define the clinical, functional and imaging characteristics of symptomatic pulmonary disease in pSS.

Methods: Four hundred and fourteen consecutive pSS patients were interviewed for the presence of chronic respiratory complaints (cough and/or dyspnea). Symptomatic pSS patients without respiratory or other comorbidities underwent further investigation with clinical evaluation and assessment with pulmonary functional testing (PFTs) and chest high resolution CT (hrCT) on inspiratory and expiratory phase.

Contribution of MTHFR gene variants in lupus related subclinical atherosclerosis.

Objective: Elevated concentrations of homocysteine have been previously identified as an independent risk factor for subclinical atherosclerosis in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Given that heightened homocysteine levels are known to be strongly influenced by genetic factors, in the current study we investigated the contribution of high homocysteine levels as well as of functional polymorphisms of the gene encoding for the enzyme 5, 10- methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) to atherosclerotic disease characterizing SLE patients.

Methods: Peripheral DNA samples from 150 SLE patients, 214 rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients and 561 age/sex matched apparently healthy volunteers (HC) were genotyped by PCR-based assays for the detection of the MTHFR gene polymorphisms (c.

MTHFR gene variants and non-MALT lymphoma development in primary Sjogren's syndrome.

Primary Sjogren's syndrome (pSS) confers increased risk for non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) development. Two common polymorphisms, the c. 677C > T and c.

Analysis of the cell populations composing the mononuclear cell infiltrates in the labial minor salivary glands from patients with rheumatoid arthritis and sicca syndrome.

Objectives: Sicca symptoms occur in around 30% of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients. Herein, we examined the characteristics of RA patients bearing sicca symptomatology (RA-sicca) with a special focus on the immunohistopathological features of their labial minor salivary gland (LMSG) biopsies.

Methods: Our cohort included 100 consecutive RA patients which were interrogated using a sicca symptoms questionnaire.

Predicting the risk for lymphoma development in Sjogren syndrome: An easy tool for clinical use.

The heightened risk of non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) development in primary Sjogren syndrome (SS) is well established. Several adverse clinical and laboratory predictors have been described. In the current work, we aimed to formulate a predictive score for NHL development, based on clinical, serological, and histopathological findings at the time of SS diagnosis.