Sicca symptoms and anti-SSA/Ro antibodies are common in mixed connective tissue disease

OBJECTIVE: To examine a large well characterized cohort of patients with mixed connective tissue disease (MCTD) and determine longitudinally the prevalence of clinical and serologic features of Sjogren's syndrome in these patients. METHODS: Patients were followed longitudinally up to 30 years w...

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Published in:Journal of rheumatology 2002-03, Vol.29 (3), p.487-489
Main Authors: SETTY, Yatish N, PITTMAN, Cory B, MAHALE, Adit S, GREIDINGER, Eric L, HOFFMAN, Robert W
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Antibodies, Antinuclear - blood
Biological and medical sciences
Exanthema - epidemiology
Exanthema - immunology
Humans
Incidence
Longitudinal Studies
Medical sciences
Mixed Connective Tissue Disease - epidemiology
Mixed Connective Tissue Disease - immunology
Photosensitivity Disorders - epidemiology
Photosensitivity Disorders - immunology
Sarcoidosis. Granulomatous diseases of unproved etiology. Connective tissue diseases. Elastic tissue diseases. Vasculitis
Sjogren's Syndrome - epidemiology
Sjogren's Syndrome - immunology
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Summary:OBJECTIVE: To examine a large well characterized cohort of patients with mixed connective tissue disease (MCTD) and determine longitudinally the prevalence of clinical and serologic features of Sjogren's syndrome in these patients. METHODS: Patients were followed longitudinally up to 30 years with systematic clinical and serologic analysis. Sera were analyzed for reactivity with SSA/Ro, SSB/La, and snRNP polypeptide U1-70kD and for anticardiolipin antibodies. RESULTS: Among a well characterized patient population with MCTD, 18/55 (32.7%) had antibodies to SSA/Ro, while 2/55 (3.6%) had antibodies to SSB/La, either initially or during the course of followup. All patients had antibodies to U1-70kD small nuclear ribonucleoprotein antigen. Sicca symptoms were common, occurring in 23/55 (41.8%) patients. Patients with MCTD who were anti-SSA/Ro positive had increased incidence of malar rash (p < 0.03) and photosensitivity (p < 0.001) compared to anti-SSA/Ro negative patients. CONCLUSION: Sicca symptoms are frequent in patients with MCTD, occurring in up to one-third of the patients studied. The presence of anti-SSA/Ro antibodies identifies a group of MCTD patients with a very high incidence of malar rash and photosensitivity.
ISSN:0315-162X
1499-2752