IFN-á in blood plasma with primary Sjogren's syndrome

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the blood plasma interferon-álevels in patients with primary Sjogren's syndrome (pSS), and explore preliminarily the correlation between pSS and interferon-á. METHODS: ELISA was used to evaluate blood plasma interferon-á levels in 34 patients with pSS and 27 patients with non-pSS. RESULTS: The blood plasma interferon-álevels in 16 out of 34 patients (47.06%) with pSS were positive, the other 18 patients with pSS were negative; nevertheless that of the all 27 patients with non-pSS were negative. There was significant difference between pSS and non-pSS. CONCLUSIONS: The study reveals that the blood plasma interferon-álevels in patients with pSS were abnormally expressed.