Salivary Gland Involvement in Autoimmune Chronic Pancreatitis

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I found the article and for that are interested (I am, because it

sounds exactly what is happening to me) here it is:

Salivary gland involvement in chronic pancreatitis of various

etiologies.

Kamisawa T, Tu Y, Egawa N, Sakaki N, Inokuma S, Kamata N.

Department of Internal Medicine, Radiology, Tokyo Metropolitan

Komagome Hospital, Japan.

OBJECTIVE: Both the pancreas and salivary glands show many

histological and functional similarities. Recently, autoimmune

pathogenesis has been postulated in some chronic pancreatitis cases.

To examine whether a cell-mediated phenomenon involving the pancreas

has a secondary effect on the salivary glands, we assessed the

frequency of salivary gland dysfunction in patients with chronic

pancreatitis of various etiologies. METHODS: Function of the

salivary glands was examined by sialochemistry and salivary gland

scintigraphy in patients with chronic pancreatitis (n = 33),

Sjogren's syndrome (n = 45), and controls (n = 28). Etiologies of

chronic pancreatitis were alcoholic (19 cases), idiopathic (seven

cases), and autoimmune (seven cases). RESULTS: Concentrations of

Na+, amylase, and beta2-microglobulin in saliva were investigated.

In submandibular and parotid gland scintigraphy, time-activity

curves were generated, and the ratios of peak count density and

washout were calculated.Concentrations of Na+ in saliva of patients

with idiopathic chronic pancreatitis and of beta2-microglobulin in

saliva of patients with idiopathic and autoimmune chronic

pancreatitis were significantly elevated than those of the control

group. In submandibular and parotid gland scintigraphy, the peak

count density ratio of patients with all chronic pancreatitis and

washout ratio of patients with alcoholic and idiopathic chronic

pancreatitis were significantly lower than those of the control

group. CONCLUSIONS: Salivary gland function was frequently impaired

in the course of chronic pancreatitis of various etiologies.

Salivary gland dysfunction might be the result of a common

pathophysiological effect of alcohol in patients with alcoholic

chronic pancreatitis and the aggressive immune mechanism against the

pancreatic and the salivary ducts in patients with autoimmune and

idiopathic chronic pancreatitis.

PMID: 12591049 [PubMed]