Histological features of the successive minor salivary gland (MSG) biopsy specimens of the SS patients. Statistical significance was evaluated by general linear model for repeated measures adjusted for the biopsy time interval.
| Histological Features of SS Patients | 1st MSG Biopsy | 2nd MSG Biopsy | p |
|---|---|---|---|
| No. infiltrating MNC/mm2 of tissue, mean ± SD | 2774 ± 2081 | 3035 ± 2403 | 0.67 |
| Glandular area (mm2) examined, mean ± SD | 17.0 ± 7.4 | 19.4 ± 5.4 | 0.08 |
| Biopsy focus score (no. lymphocytic foci/4mm2), median (quartiles) | 4.3 (2.3–5.8) | 4.4 (2.5–5.8) | 0.72 |
| Tarpley biopsy score, median (quartiles) | 3 (2–3) | 2.5 (2–3) | 0.98 |
| Fibrosis, median (quartiles) | 1 (1–1.8) | 1 (1–2) | 0.64 |
| Fatty cell infiltration, median (quartiles) | 1 (1–2.8) | 2 (1–3) | 0.49 |
| Presence of ectopic germinal center (GC), n (%) | 7 (25) | 11 (39) | 0.97 |
| Prevalence of infiltrating cell types (mean percentage of total infiltrating MNC or MNC types ± SD) | |||
| CD3+ T cells | 45.8 ± 9.8 | 47.2 ± 12.3 | 0.12 |
| CD4+ T cells | 30.8 ± 7.9 | 26.9 ± 10.2 | 0.02 |
| CD4+/CD3+ T cells | 67.1 ± 9.0 | 54.6 ± 13.0 | 0.02 |
| CD8+ T cells | 15.1 ± 5.2 | 21.9 ± 8.3 | 0.25 |
| CD8+/CD3+ T cells | 32.9 ± 9.0 | 45.4 ± 13.0 | 0.02 |
| CD4+/CD8+ T cell ratio | 2.2 ± 1.0 | 1.4 ± 0.9 | 0.09 |
| FOXP3+ Treg cells | 1.4 ± 1.1 | 2.0 ± 1.7 | 0.49 |
| FOXP3+ Treg/CD3+ T cells | 3.0 ± 2.5 | 4.4 ± 3.3 | 0.44 |
| CD20+ B cells | 46.7 ± 11.8 | 44.5 ± 13.1 | 0.45 |
| CD3+ T/CD20+ B cell ratio | 1.1 ± 0.7 | 1.3 ± 1.0 | 0.16 |
| CD68+ macrophages | 4.5 ± 3.6 | 4.7 ± 3.9 | 0.33 |
| Fascin+ fDC | 1.5 ± 1.2 | 1.9 ± 1.4 | 0.57 |
| S100+ iDC | 0.9 ± 0.8 | 0.7 ± 0.5 | 0.45 |
| CD56+ NK cells | 0.2 ± 0.5 | 0.6 ± 0.6 | 0.96 |
↵MNC: mononuclear cells; fDC: follicular dendritic cell; iDC: interdigitating dendritic cells; NK: natural killer cell.