D. Zoukhri et al., LACRIMAL GLAND INNERVATION IS NOT ALTERED WITH THE ONSET AND PROGRESSION OF DISEASE IN A MURINE MODEL OF SJOGRENS-SYNDROME, Clinical immunology and immunopathology (Print), 89(2), 1998, pp. 126-133
The lacrimal glands of patients with Sjogren's syndrome develop extens
ive lymphocytic infiltration, but also contain a large number of seemi
ngly healthy looking acinar and ductal cells. Despite this, the secret
ory function of this tissue is impaired, leading to aqueous tear-defic
ient dry eye. This raises the possibility that there is a defect in th
e neural innervation of the remaining portion of the lacrimal gland. T
o test for this possibility, we used antibodies specific to various ma
rkers of the parasympathetic, sympathetic, and sensory nerves and perf
ormed immunohistochemical analyses of lacrimal glands from a murine mo
del of Sjogren's syndrome, the MRL/Mp-Fas-lpr/lpr (MRL/lpr) and the co
ntrol mice MRL/Mp-+/+ (MRL/+). Our results show that the MRL/lpr, but
not the MRL/+, lacrimal glands become infiltrated with lymphocytes sta
rting at 8 weeks of age which worsens by 12 and 18 weeks. The density
and the pattern of parasympathetic, sympathetic, and sensory innervati
on of the noninflamed acinar tissue of MRL/lpr lacrimal glands, at 4,
8, 12, and 18 weeks, is indistinguishable from that of age-matched con
trol MRL/+ lacrimal glands. We conclude that the loss of the secretory
function in Sjogren's syndrome lacrimal glands is not due to a loss o
r decrease of its innervation. (C) 1998 Academic Press.