Comparison of the anti-Ro/SSA autoantibody profile between patients with primary and secondary Sjogren's syndrome

Objective To measure serum levels of anti-Ro52-kD/SSA, anti-Ro60-kD/SSA and anti-La/S SB autoantibodies in patients with primary and secondary Sjogren's syndrome . To examine if there is any connection between the disease and the subtype -spectrum of these antibodies. Methods We measured serum levels of anti-Ro52-kD/SSA, anti-Ro60-kD/SSA and anti-La/ SSB autoantibodies by ELISA, in the sera of patients with primary Sjogren's syndrome with or without extraglandular manifestations and with or without anti-La/SSB positivity and of patients with systemic lupus erythematosus/S jogren's syndrome overlapping disease with or without anti-La/SSB positivit y. Results Differences of the distribution of the anti-Ro52-kD/SSA and the anti-Ro60-k D/SSA were found between the primary and secondary Sjogren's syndrome patie nts' groups; when Sjogren's syndrome is accompanied by systemic lupus eryth ematosus, the occurrence of anti-Ro60-kD/SSA autoantibodies is significantl y higher than in primary Sjogren'syndrome. Conclusion Our results suggest that there is a possible connection between the distrib ution of the subtypes of the anti-Ro/SSA autoantibodies and the disease typ e in primary/secondary Sjogren's syndrome.