학술논문

Role of the mTOR pathway in minor salivary gland changes in Sjogren’s syndrome and systemic sclerosis
Document Type
Article
Source
Arthritis Research & Therapy (formerly Arthritis Research); December 2018, Vol. 20 Issue: 1 p1-6, 6p
Subject
Language
ISSN
14786354; 14786362
Abstract
To examine the activity of the mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) pathway and its regulators, transforming growth factor (TGF)-β1 and phosphatase and tensin homolog (PTEN), in minor salivary gland biopsies of Sjogren’s syndrome (SS) and systemic sclerosis (SSc) patients. We retrospectively evaluated SS, SSc, and SS-SSc overlap patients admitted to our outpatient rheumatology clinic between January 2007 and December 2015 who underwent a minor salivary gland biopsy. Patient demographics and some clinical features were obtained from hospital records. Immunohistochemistry was used to analyze total mTOR, total PTEN, and TGF-β1 expression in the biopsied tissues. The biopsy specimens were also examined for the presence and degree of fibrosis. Minor salivary gland biopsies of 58 SS, 14 SSc, and 23 SS-SSc overlap patients were included in the study. There was no significant difference in mTOR expression between these groups (P= 0.622). PTEN protein was expressed in 87.2% of patients with SS, 57.9% with overlap syndrome, and 100% of the SSC patients, and these differences were statistically different (P= 0.023). Although ductal epithelial TGF-β1 expression was similar between the groups (P= 0.345), acinar cell expression was found to be more frequent in the SSc (72.7%) and overlap patients (85.7%) in comparison with the SS cases (58.2%; P= 0.004). mTOR may be one of the common pathways in the pathology of both SS and SSc. Hence, there may be a role for mTOR inhibitors in the treatment of both diseases. Additionally, PTEN and TGF-β1 expression may be a distinctive feature of SSc.