An Overview of the Dry Eye Disease in Sjögren's Syndrome Using Our Current Molecular Understanding

• Published in: International journal of molecular sciences Vol. 24; no. 2; p. 1580
• Main Authors: Wu, Kevin Y, Kulbay, Merve, Tanasescu, Cristina, Jiao, Belinda, Nguyen, Bich H, Tran, Simon D
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 13.01.2023; MDPI
• Subjects: Asymptomatic; Autoimmune diseases; basic research; Disease; DNA methylation; dry eye; Dry Eye Syndromes - complications; Dry Eye Syndromes - etiology; Exocrine glands; Eye diseases; Gene expression; Hepatitis; Horizon; Humans; immune pathway; Immunological diseases; Immunology; Literature reviews; Lymphocytes; Lymphoma; ocular surface; Pathogenesis; pathophysiology; Proteomics; Quality of Life; Review; Saliva; Sjogren's syndrome; Sjogren's Syndrome - complications; Sjogren's Syndrome - diagnosis; Sjögren syndrome; Tears; Viral infections; Viruses; proteomics; biomarkers; exosomes; ocular surface; pathophysiology; diagnosis; basic research; dry eye; Sjögren syndrome; immune pathway
• ISSN: 1422-0067; 1661-6596; 1422-0067
• DOI: 10.3390/ijms24021580

Sjögren's syndrome is a chronic and insidious auto-immune disease characterized by lymphocyte infiltration of exocrine glands. The patients typically present with ocular surface diseases related to dry eye and other systemic manifestations. However, due to the high prevalence of dry eye disease and the lack of objective and clinically reliable diagnostic tools, discriminating Sjögren's syndrome dry eye (SSDE) from non-Sjögren's syndrome dry eye (NSSDE) remains a challenge for clinicians. Diagnosing SS is important to improve the quality of life of patients through timely referral for systemic workups, as SS is associated with serious systemic complications such as lymphoma and other autoimmune diseases. The purpose of this article is to describe the current molecular understanding of Sjögren's syndrome and its implications for novel diagnostic modalities on the horizon. A literature review of the pre-clinical and clinical studies published between 2016 and 2022 was conducted. The SSDE pathophysiology and immunology pathways have become better understood in recent years. Novel diagnostic modalities, such as tear and saliva proteomics as well as exosomal biomarkers, provide hope on the horizon.