PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE AU - Masaya Kobayashi AU - Seiji Kawano AU - Saori Hatachi AU - Chiyo Kurimoto AU - Taku Okazaki AU - Yoshiko Iwai AU - Tasuku Honjo AU - Yoshimasa Tanaka AU - Nagahiro Minato AU - Takahide Komori AU - Sakan Maeda AU - Shunichi Kumagai TI - Enhanced expression of programmed death-1 (PD-1)/PD-L1 in salivary glands of patients with Sjögren's syndrome. DP - 2005 Nov 01 TA - The Journal of Rheumatology PG - 2156--2163 VI - 32 IP - 11 4099 - http://www.jrheum.org/content/32/11/2156.short 4100 - http://www.jrheum.org/content/32/11/2156.full SO - J Rheumatol2005 Nov 01; 32 AB - OBJECTIVE: Programmed death-1 (PD-1) mediates a negative signal and introduces tolerance for lymphocytes. Dysfunction of the PD-1 pathway is thought to result in autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis (RA). To investigate the role of the PD-1/PD-L system in the pathology of Sjögren's syndrome (SS), we examined the expression of PD-1 and its ligand PD-L1 in salivary lymphocytes and salivary glands from patients with SS. METHODS: Flow cytometry analysis was used to determine expression of PD-1 in SS salivary lymphocytes. Intracellular staining of interleukin 10 (IL-10) was performed after stimulation with PMA and ionomycin. Indirect immunohistochemistry was used to investigate the expression of PD-1 and PD-L1. RESULTS: The mean fluorescence intensity of PD-1 expression in SS salivary lymphocytes was significantly higher than that from healthy controls and patients with RA or systemic lupus erythematosus. PD-1-positive SS salivary lymphocytes expressed IL-10 intracellularly upon PMA/ionomycin stimulation. Immunohistochemical analysis showed that PD-1 was expressed on infiltrating lymphocytes in salivary gland from 52% of SS patients, and PD-L1 was expressed on ductal and acinar epithelial cells from 68% of SS patients. In vitro analysis using HSG cells revealed that PD-L1 was induced by interferon-gamma but not by tumor necrosis factor-alpha and IL-1beta. CONCLUSION: PD-1 is expressed on T lymphocytes and PD-L1 on epithelial cells from inflamed salivary glands of patients with SS, which suggests that dysfunction of the PD-1/PD-L1 pathway may be related to tolerance for lymphocytes, which causes SS.