Association of Sicca Syndrome with Proviral Load and Proinflammatory Cytokines in HTLV-1 Infection

Abstract EN

The Sjögren syndrome has been diagnosed in patients with HTLV-1 associated myelopathy and dry mouth and dry eyes are documented in HTLV-1 carriers.

However the diagnosis of Sjögren syndrome in these subjects has been contested.

In this cross-sectional study, we evaluated the role of immunological factors and proviral load, in sicca syndrome associated with HTLV-1 in patients without myelopathy.

Subjects were recruited in the HTLV-1 Clinic, from 2009 to 2011.

The proviral load and cytokine levels (IFN-γ, TNF-α, IL-5, and IL-10) were obtained from a database containing the values presented by the subjects at admission in the clinic.

Of the 272 participants, 59 (21.7%) had sicca syndrome and in all of them anti-Sjögren syndrome related antigen A (SSA) and antigen B (SSB) were negatives.

The production of TNF-α and IFN-γ was higher in the group with sicca syndrome ( P < 0.05 ) than in HTLV-1 infected subjects without sicca syndrome.

Our data indicates that patients with sicca syndrome associated with HTLV-1 do not have Sjögren syndrome.

However the increased production of TNF-α and IFN-γ in this group of patients may contribute to the pathogenesis of sicca syndrome associated with HTLV-1.