Sjögren's syndrome: A study of salivary electrophoresis

Many diagnostic tests exist to assess the salivary and lacrimal involvement in Sjögren's syndrome (SS), but there is still disagreement. The purpose of this study was to examine salivary proteins in patients with primary Sjögren's syndrome and healthy control subjects by the polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, as well as the applicability of the method. The polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, applied in our examinations, is a simple and rapid method, requiring only a minute amount of saliva for the analysis. Saliva were collected from patients suffering from primary Sjögren's syndrome (n = 10) and a control group (n = 10). All saliva samples were stored at -70 °C until use. The diagnosis of Sjögren's syndrome was verified by a biopsy of the minor glands of the lower lip in the patient group. Most of the patients with Sjögren's syndrome exhibited an electrophoretic profile that was different from healthy control subjects. Electrophoresis systems are most reliable for Sjögren's syndrome. Our study suggests that the salivary electrophoresis are most reliable for Sjögren's syndrome. Salivary electrophoresis can provide a simple, noninvasive, inexpensive, and comfortable method for the diagnosis of Sjögren's syndrome.