Characterization of Lipids in Saliva, Tears and Minor Salivary Glands of Sjögren’s Syndrome Patients Using an HPLC/MS-Based Approach

Abstract

The diagnostic work-up of primary Sjögren’s syndrome (pSS) includes quantifying saliva and tear production, evaluation of autoantibodies in serum and histopathological analysis of minor salivary glands. Thus, the potential for further utilizing these fluids and tissues in the quest to find better diagnostic and therapeutic tools should be fully explored. Ten samples of saliva and tears from female patients diagnosed with pSS and ten samples of saliva and tears from healthy females were included for lipidomic analysis of tears and whole saliva using high-performance liquid chromatography coupled to time-of-flight mass spectrometry. In addition, lipidomic analysis was performed on minor salivary gland biopsies from three pSS and three non-SS females. We found significant differences in the lipidomic profiles of saliva and tears in pSS patients compared to healthy controls. Moreover, there were differences in individual lipid species in stimulated saliva that were comparable to those of glandular biopsies, representing an intriguing avenue for further research. We believe a comprehensive elucidation of the changes in lipid composition in saliva, tears and minor salivary glands in pSS patients may be the key to detecting pSS-related dry mouth and dry eyes at an early stage. The identified differences may illuminate the path towards future innovative diagnostic methodologies and treatment modalities for alleviating pSS-related sicca symptoms.

Ceramides in Autoimmune Rheumatic Diseases: Existing Evidence and Therapeutic Considerations for Diet as an Anticeramide Treatment

“…Sekiguchi [ 140 ] showed that the signaling of the S1P receptor 1 (S1P 1 ) may in fact modulate autoimmune phenotypes in pSS, through the immune and epithelial cells. Moreover, another case-control study [ 139 ] revealed differences in the lipidomic profiles of tears and saliva in patients with pSS compared to healthy controls, involving 29/86 individual lipid species.…”

Tear Biomarkers in Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s Diseases, and Multiple Sclerosis: Implications for Diagnosis (Systematic Review)

“…Among the proteins detected are growth factors [ 16 , 17 ], cytokines [ 18 ], matrix metalloproteinases [ 19 ], immunoglobulins [ 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 ], sex hormones [ 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 ], proteases and protease inhibitors [ 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 ], calcium-binding proteins [ 34 , 35 ], and glycoproteins [ 36 , 37 , 38 ]. The tear film lipid layer (TFLL) acts as an interface between the aqueous layer and air and is the composition of different types of lipids, including cholesteryl esters (CE), wax esters (WE), and triacylglycerol (TAG) [ 17 , 39 , 40 , 41 , 42 , 43 , 44 , 45 ]. In tears, circulating microRNAs (cimiRNAs) as potential biomarkers were also found [ 46 ].…”

Predicting an unstable tear film through artificial intelligence

“…In its application in DED, ML has largely been used for image analysis from slit lamp examinations 15 , meibography 16 , and in vivo confocal microscopy 17 , as well as a few studies concerning osmolarity 18 , and proteomic analysis 19 . Additionally, our group recently employed dimensionality reduction through principal components analysis to compare salivary and ocular lipids and lipidomic profiles in patients with Sjögren`s syndrome to healthy controls 20 . There is no definitive test for DED, and patients must undergo several and occasionally unpleasant clinical examinations demanding a great deal of time and resources.…”