The study of the expression of E-cadherin and Snail in the labial glands of the patients with primary Sj(o)gren's syndrome / 中华风湿病学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To study the expression of E-cadherin protein and Snail protein in the labial glands of patients with primary Sj(o)gren's syndrome(pSS) and to analyze their roles in the pathogenesis of pSS.Methods The expression of E-cadherin protein and Snail protein were detected by immunohistochemical method.The labial glands were obtained from 50 patients with pSS and 30 healthy controls.The data was analyzed by Chi-Square test,Fisher's exact probability and Spearman's rank correlation analysis.Results The expression rate of E-cadherin in the labials gland of the patients with pSS were lower than that in normal salivary tissues (x2=14.651,P＜0.01).The positive rates of Snail in the labial glands of the patients with PSS were 40％ and it's expression rates were significantly higher than those in normal salivary tissues (x2=28.800,P＜0.01).There was a negative correlation between lymphocyte focus score and the expression of E-cadherin (P＜0.01) and a positive correlation between lymphocyte focus score and the expression of Snail in pSS group (P＜0.01).There was a negative correlation between the expression of E-cadherin and Snail (rs=-0.484,P＜0.01).Conclusion The interaction of E-cadherin and Snail may have played an important role in the pathogenesis of PSS.