Current and future therapies for primary Sjögren syndrome

This review summarizes the available evidence for systemic treatments for primary Sjögren syndrome (pSS) and includes discussions of advances in outcome assessment and promising future therapeutics.

Key points

• Currently available classic immunosuppressive drugs might be effective for treating some systemic manifestations of pSS, as is the case for other connective tissue diseases.

• Following the failure of the first randomized controlled trials (RCTs) in pSS, efforts are ongoing to find new therapeutic targets and new outcome measures.

• For the first time, two agents have met their primary outcome of improvement in systemic disease activity in RCTs in pSS: anti-B cell-activating factor receptor and anti-CD40 antibodies.

• Targeting B cells remains the most promising therapeutic approach for pSS.

• New outcome measures for RCTs aim to assess all disease manifestations, including systemic activity, saliva and tears function, patient-reported outcomes and biological features.

FULL ARTICLE

Seror, R., Nocturne, G. & Mariette, X. Current and future therapies for primary Sjögren syndrome. Nat Rev Rheumatol 17, 475–486 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41584-021-00634-x

BACKGROUND INFORMATION from Healio, The Immune system: 

The immune system consists of many parts that work together to defend the body against invaders. The primary parts of the immune system include the bone marrow and thymus. The bone marrow is extremely important to the immune system because all the body’s blood cells (including T and B lymphocytes) originate in the bone marrow. B lymphocytes remain in the marrow to mature, while T lymphocytes travel to the thymus.

B cells, also known as B lymphocytes, is a type of white blood cell that develops in the bone marrow and makes antibodies.

T cells, also called T lymphocytes, are a type of white blood cell that are involved with the immune system. They mature in the thymus and differentiate into cytotoxic, memory, helper and regulatory T cells.

CD40, is a receptor that on B cells mediates “T cell help” and on dendritic cells helps to program CD8 T cell responses. Immunotherapies that block or stimulate the CD40 pathway hold great promise for treatment of autoimmune diseases. - A short history of the B-cell-associated surface molecule CD40 by Edward A. Clark Department of Immunology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA

FIND OUT MORE ABOUT SJOGREN'S SYNDROME HERE:

• List of Sjogren's Syndrome Symptoms
• Increased prevalence of Sjogren's syndrome in high level chromium soils
• Study suggests future way to treat chronic eye problems and lymphoma in Sjogren's Syndrome.
• How Sjogren's is diagnosed

• Dry eye found in over 85% of Sjogren’s patients