A new ultrasensitive blood test may detect Sjögren’s disease more than 10 years before symptoms appear by identifying chronically elevated interferon alpha levels in patient blood samples.
An ultrasensitive blood test could detect Sjögren’s disease more than a decade before a clinical diagnosis, according to a study published in The Lancet Rheumatology.
Researchers found that over 50% of patients with the autoimmune condition—which causes the immune system to mistakenly attack moisture-producing glands—have chronically high levels of an inflammatory protein called interferon alpha (IFN-α). These levels are identifiable long before symptoms develop, the study shows.
Pinpointing the involvement of interferon alpha could help clinicians target the right treatment to the right patient, improving the management of the condition. Sjögren’s disease affects approximately 500,000 people in the United Kingdom, and 90% of adults diagnosed are women.
The disease affects the exocrine glands, which produce substances like tears, saliva, and other fluids, causing chronic inflammation that prevents the glands from functioning properly. There is currently no cure, and treatment focuses on managing symptoms such as joint pain, dry mouth, and extreme tiredness.
Identifying a Protein Fingerprint
Scientists from the University of Edinburgh and University Hospital Bonn in Germany studied the immune systems of more than 170 patients with Sjögren’s disease. Because the body typically produces interferon alpha in very small quantities, the researchers used a new method to detect individual molecules.
The study found that approximately 60% of patients had an increased amount of the protein. This elevation was linked to different activity levels of specific genes in the immune system, creating a unique protein fingerprint in the blood of this patient group.
“Sjögren’s disease is a debilitating condition which is often overlooked. We are delighted to have shown how precision medicine technologies can be used in Sjögren’s disease to help decode the immune pathways which cause disease,” says David Hunt, PhD, a professor at the University of Edinburgh Institute for Neuroscience and Cardiovascular Research, in a release. “We hope that this is an important step towards making our ultrasensitive IFN-α blood test available to people affected by this condition.”
Predicting Disease Development
The research team extended the findings using blood samples from 250 patients in the UK Biobank. The analysis showed that the protein fingerprints could be detected more than 10 years before patients developed the disease.
The study also used mouse models to show that high levels of interferon alpha led to features of Sjögren’s disease. These models responded to a drug that blocked the biological effects of the protein.
The findings suggest two distinct pathways linked to the development of the condition. This immune diversity could support the use of treatments to suppress interferon alpha specifically for patients with high protein levels, according to the researchers.
“Now, for the first time, we can take treatments geared toward suppressing the interferon effect and trial them specifically on patients with elevated interferon levels. We might also find new approaches to treatment that will help a large percentage of patients over the long term,” says Rayk Behrendt, a professor at the Institute of Clinical Chemistry and Clinical Pharmacology at the University Hospital Bonn, in a release.
The study was funded by the Chief Scientist Office and Wellcome.
“Our Precision Medicine Alliance Scotland funding aims to bring precision medicine from the laboratory into everyday National Health Service Scotland care, and this research is a vital step towards more personalised treatment for people with Sjögren’s disease,” says Anna Dominiczak, a professor and the chief scientist, health, for the Scottish Government, in a release.
ID 220596341 © Kowniewping | Dreamstime.com
