RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Presence of hepatitis C virus RNA in the salivary glands of patients with Sjögren's syndrome and hepatitis C virus infection.
JF The Journal of Rheumatology
JO J Rheumatol
FD The Journal of Rheumatology
SP 2382
OP 2385
VO 29
IS 11
A1 Eric Toussirot
A1 Gaëlle Le Huédé
A1 Christiane Mougin
A1 Jean-Charles Balblanc
A1 Dominique Bettinger
A1 Daniel Wendling
YR 2002
UL http://www.jrheum.org/content/29/11/2382.abstract
AB OBJECTIVE: To determine whether hepatitis C virus (HCV) RNA could be detected in the salivary glands of patients with both a diagnosis of Sjögren's syndrome (SS) and HCV infection. METHODS: Five patients with primary SS (European criteria) and chronically infected by HCV and 3 controls (one with primary SS without HCV infection, another with HCV infection without sicca syndrome, and a third without SS and HCV infection) were tested for the presence of HCV-RNA (using reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction) in their saliva, serum, and salivary glands. RESULTS: In the patient group, HCV-RNA was detected in the serum and saliva of all cases and RNA extracted from salivary gland specimens tested positive in 3 cases. In the control group, HCV-RNA was not detected in the serum, saliva, or salivary glands from subjects without HCV infection. Only the control subject with HCV but without sicca syndrome tested positive for the presence of HCV-RNA in the serum, saliva, and salivary gland tissue. CONCLUSION: Our results showed that HCV may propagate and reside within salivary gland tissue, leading to HCV associated sialadenitis or Sjögren's-like syndrome in some cases, a phenomenon that does not seem specific. However, a direct role for HCV in the physiopathology of certain cases of primary SS is suggested.