FRIDAY, July 24, 2026 (NewsDay News) — Elevated interferon (IFN)α drives an immune endotype of Sjögren’s disease, reports the August 2026 issue of. Lancet Rheumatology.
Deborah Forbes, MBCh.B., from the University of Edinburgh, United Kingdom, and colleagues used data from the Primary Sjögren’s Syndrome Register (UKPSSR) and UK Biobank to examine the role of IFNα in Sjögren’s disease.
Between 1 August 2009 and 31 March 2012, a total of 177 people were diagnosed with Sjögren’s disease in the UKPSSR. In addition, 47,606 people without Sjögren’s disease and 257 people with Sjögren’s disease were identified in the UK Biobank Pharma Proteomics Project between 2009 and 31 March 2012. 137 people were selected before diagnosis. The researchers found that 61 percent of people with Sjögren’s disease in the UKPSSR had elevated IFNα concentrations. In the UK Biobank Pharma Proteomics Project, IFN oligoprotein signatures were identified up to 14 years before the diagnosis of Sjögren’s disease. A specific immunological endotype characterized by cytopenia, hypergammaglobulinemia, multiple autoantibodies and autoimmunity against the Sjögren autoantigen TRIM21/ Ro52 was seen in individuals in the UKPSSR with elevated IFNα. Main characteristics of the endotype in a mouse model of chronic elevation of systemic IFNa in which IFNa4 was overexpressed by normal dendritic cells; they can be partially restored by blockade of type 1 IFN receptors.
“We are excited to show how precision medicine technologies can be used in Sjögren’s disease to help decipher the immune pathways that cause the disease,” said co-author David Hunt, PhD, also of the University of Edinburgh, in a statement.
Several authors revealed links to the biopharmaceutical industry; one author revealed a connection with the publishing industry.
