ab17_4

Expression of metalloproteinase-2 (gelatinase A) in labial salivary glands of patients with Sjögren’s syndrome with HTLV-I infection

M. Tominaga, K. Migita, H. Nakamura, Y. Ichinose, T. Furuya, T. Origuchi1, Y. Kawabe, A. Hida, T. Nakamura, K. Eguchi

First Department of Internal Medicine, Nagasaki University School of Medicine; 1School of Allied Medical Sciences, Nagasaki, Japan.

ABSTRACT
Objective
To determine whether gelatinase A (MMP-2) plays a significant role in the pathogenesis of Sjögren’s syndrome (SS) with or without HTLV-I infection.

Methods
We examined 24 patients with SS (14 HTLV-I-seropositive and 8 HTLV-I-seronegative). Labial salivary gland tissue samples were analysed immunohistochemically using anti-MMP-2 monoclonal antibodies.

Results
In normal salivary glands, MMP-2 expression was not detected. All biopsy samples of 8 SS patients with HTLV-I-associated myelopathy (HAM) and 3 of 6 HTLV-I-seropositive SS patients without manifestation of HAM stained positively for MMP-2. However, the other samples were negative for MMP-2.

Conclusion
Our study showed the MMP-2 expression in labial salivary glands of HTLV-I seropositive SS patients, especially in all SS patients with HAM. The presence of MMP-2 in the salivary glands of these patients suggests that it may play a role in cellular infiltration and destruction in salivary glands of SS.

Key words
Sjögren’s syndrome, matrix metalloproteinases, HTLV-I, HAM.

Please address correspondence and reprint requests to: Katsumi Eguchi, M.D., Chairman and Professor, First Department of Internal Medicine, Nagasaki University School of Medicine, 1-7-1 Sakamoto, Nagasaki 852-8501, Japan.