Are There Clinical or Serological Differences Between Male and Female Patients with Primary Sjogren's Syndrome?

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J Rheumatol. 2004 Jul;31(7):1352-5.

Are There Clinical or Serological Differences Between Male and Female

Patients with Primary Sjogren's Syndrome?

- C, Geli C, Corominas H, Malat N, -Torner C, Llobet JM, De

La Serna AR, Laiz A, Moreno M, Vazquez G.

Unitat de Reumatologia, Departament de Medicina Interna, Hospital de la

Santa Creu i Sant Pau, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain.

OBJECTIVE: Sjogren's syndrome (SS) is a chronic inflammatory autoimmune

disease. It can be primary (pSS) or secondary (sSS) and is observed 90% more

in women than in men, mainly in the fourth and fifth decades of life. We

investigated the prevalence of serological and clinical manifestations in

male and female patients with primary SS. METHODS: We analyzed 521 female

and 28 male patients with pSS between 1993 and 2001. All patients fulfilled

>/= 4 of the 1993 European Community Study Group criteria. RESULTS: Men

presented higher concentrations of IgA, rheumatoid factor, and antinuclear

antibodies than women. A higher percentage of women than men reported

fibromyalgia, thyroidal manifestations, and carpal tunnel syndrome. There

were no statistical differences between the 2 groups in relation to the

presence of Raynaud's phenomenon, arthritis, erosive osteoarthritis, liver

disease, or other visceral manifestations. CONCLUSION: The pattern of SS in

our cohort of patients reveals a difference between male and female

patients, in contrast with earlier studies.