ArticleRheumatology (Oxford, England)2022
Digital image analysis of intraepithelial B-lymphocytes to assess lymphoepithelial lesions in salivary glands of Sjögren's syndrome patients.
Article in Rheumatology (Oxford, England), 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
6 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 10 citations in OpenAlex.
- Intraepithelial lymphocytes in human oral diseases.Frontiers in immunology · 2025Pooled it
- Clinical, histopathological, and immunohistochemical characteristics of patients with sicca syndrome with a focus score ≥ 1 in the minor salivary gland biopsyBiomedica : revista del Instituto Nacional de Salud · 2025Observational
- More severe parotid gland histopathology in paediatric-onset than in adult-onset Sjögren's disease.RMD open · 2024Article
- cGAS-STING pathway expression correlates with genomic instability and immune cell infiltration in breast cancer.NPJ breast cancer · 2024Article
- Immune and non-immune mediators in the fibrosis pathogenesis of salivary gland in Sjögren's syndrome.Frontiers in immunology · 2024Review
- The role of cytokines from salivary gland epithelial cells in the immunopathology of Sjögren's syndrome.Frontiers in immunology · 2024Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
12 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveSalivary glands of primary SS (pSS) patients characteristically harbour periductal infiltrates, in which lymphoepithelial lesions (LELs) can develop. LELs are composed of hyperplastic ductal epithelium with infiltrating lymphocytes and may assist in the challenging diagnostic process of pSS. As manual identification of LELs remains difficult, we aimed to identify LELs by using an objective digital image analysis (DIA) algorithm that detects intraepithelial lymphocytes.
methodsA virtual triple-staining technique developed for this study was used to count intraepithelial lymphocytes in consecutive slides stained for CD3 (T-lymphocytes), high-molecular-weight cytokeratin (hmwCK) (striated ducts) and CD20 (B-lymphocytes) in labial and parotid gland biopsies in a diagnostic cohort of 109 sicca patients. Patients were classified as having pSS or non-SS according to the ACR-EULAR classification criteria.
resultsT-lymphocytes were detected in almost all analysed ducts of pSS and non-SS sicca patients, whereas intraepithelial B-lymphocytes were present in 59-68% of labial and parotid gland biopsies of pSS patients, against only 2-3% of patients classified as non-SS. Intraepithelial B-lymphocytes were found in almost all striated ducts with hyperplasia (LELs). Remarkably, ∼25% of analysed striated ducts without hyperplasia of pSS patients also contained B-lymphocytes (precursor-LELs). Furthermore, presence of intraepithelial B-lymphocytes was associated with clinical parameters of pSS (i.e. serology).
conclusionThe presence of intraepithelial B-lymphocytes in salivary gland biopsies of sicca patients is a clear indicator of pSS and can be used as an objective alternative to LEL scoring. Therefore, identification of B-lymphocyte-containing ducts should be added to the diagnostic histopathological work-up of patients suspected of pSS.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.