ACR Meeting Abstracts

ACR Meeting Abstracts

  • Meetings
    • ACR Convergence 2024
    • ACR Convergence 2023
    • 2023 ACR/ARP PRSYM
    • ACR Convergence 2022
    • ACR Convergence 2021
    • ACR Convergence 2020
    • 2020 ACR/ARP PRSYM
    • 2019 ACR/ARP Annual Meeting
    • 2018-2009 Meetings
    • Download Abstracts
  • Keyword Index
  • Advanced Search
  • Your Favorites
    • Favorites
    • Login
    • View and print all favorites
    • Clear all your favorites
  • ACR Meetings

Abstract Number: 2194

Cathepsin S Activity in Tears As a Marker of Sjögren’s Syndrome

S.E. Whitt1, K. Renduchintala1, S. Janga2, M. Shah2, J. Zhu3, K. Silka3, S. Bricel3, D. Bach3, M. Heur4, S. Christianakis5, J. Irvine4, D. Arkfeld6, W.J. Mack3, William Stohl7 and S.F. Hamm-Alvarez2, 1University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine -These authors contributed equally to this work, Los Angeles, CA, 2University of Southern California School of Pharmacy, Los Angeles, CA, 3University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine, Los Angeles, CA, 4Doheny Eye Institute, Los Angeles, CA, 5Med/Rheumatology, University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine, Los Angeles, CA, 6Div of Rheumatology, University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine, Los Angeles, CA, 7Division of Rheumatology, University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine, Los Angeles, CA

Meeting: 2012 ACR/ARHP Annual Meeting

Keywords: Sjogren's syndrome and biomarkers

  • Tweet
  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window) Email
  • Click to print (Opens in new window) Print
Session Information

Title: Sjögren's Syndrome - Clinical

Session Type: Abstract Submissions (ACR)

Background/Purpose:   Currently used biomarkers for Sjögren’s Syndrome (SS), such as anti-SSA/Ro or anti-SSB/La, lack sensitivity and specificity.  The goal of the work presented here is to evaluate the association of elevated Cathepsin S (CATS ) with SS and contrast this to CATS associations with other autoimmune or dry eye disorders.

Methods: Patients were recruited from outpatient Rheumatology and Ophthalmology clinics. Schirmer’s tests were administered to patients with primary or secondary SS (n=47), rheumatoid arthritis (RA) without SS (n=41), systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) without SS (n=18), other autoimmune diseases without SS (n=10), non-autoimmune dry eyes (n=13), and blepharitis (n=8). The Schirmer’s strips were immediately placed on ice after tear collection, and tear proteins were eluted and analyzed within 4 hours for CATS activity using commercial assay kits. CATS activity was normalized to protein concentration.  Serum positivity for anti-SSA and anti-SSB in autoimmune disease patients was determined by a clinical laboratory.

Results: CATS data were log-transformed prior to analysis to deemphasize outlier values.  To compare log CATS activity among patient groups accounting for correlated data (correlation among eyes), generalized estimating equations were used. Median CATS activity in SS patients (median 5140) was compared to non-SS patient groups: SS vs. RA (median 1476, p=<.00001), SS vs. SLE (median 2226,  p=.0008), SS vs. Blepharitis (median 1770, p=.022), SS vs. Dry Eye (median 2768, p=.003), and SS vs. Other (median 1770, p=.013).  CATS activity did not significantly differ (p=0.31) between primary SS (n=11; median 5514) and secondary SS (n=36; median 4970). Anti-SSA-positive SS patients (n=30; median 3288) and anti-SSA-negative SS patients (n=8; median 1732) also did not significantly differ on CATS activity (p=0.29). The data did not demonstrate a significant difference (p=0.25) in median CATS activity between SSB-positive (n=13; median 5321) and SSB-negative (n=25; median 4456) groups.

Conclusion: Normalized CATS activity is significantly greater in the tears of SS patients than in the tears of patients with non-SS autoimmune or non-autoimmune diseases. Determination of CATS activity in tears may be clinically useful by shortening the lag time in diagnosing patients with SS, thereby promoting earlier initiation of appropriate therapy. The simplicity of the test may permit its automation and use in real-world clinical settings.


Disclosure:

S. E. Whitt,
None;

K. Renduchintala,
None;

S. Janga,
None;

M. Shah,
None;

J. Zhu,
None;

K. Silka,
None;

S. Bricel,
None;

D. Bach,
None;

M. Heur,
None;

S. Christianakis,
None;

J. Irvine,
None;

D. Arkfeld,
None;

W. J. Mack,
None;

W. Stohl,
None;

S. F. Hamm-Alvarez,
None.

  • Tweet
  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window) Email
  • Click to print (Opens in new window) Print

« Back to 2012 ACR/ARHP Annual Meeting

ACR Meeting Abstracts - https://acrabstracts.org/abstract/cathepsin-s-activity-in-tears-as-a-marker-of-sjogrens-syndrome/

Advanced Search

Your Favorites

You can save and print a list of your favorite abstracts during your browser session by clicking the “Favorite” button at the bottom of any abstract. View your favorites »

All abstracts accepted to ACR Convergence are under media embargo once the ACR has notified presenters of their abstract’s acceptance. They may be presented at other meetings or published as manuscripts after this time but should not be discussed in non-scholarly venues or outlets. The following embargo policies are strictly enforced by the ACR.

Accepted abstracts are made available to the public online in advance of the meeting and are published in a special online supplement of our scientific journal, Arthritis & Rheumatology. Information contained in those abstracts may not be released until the abstracts appear online. In an exception to the media embargo, academic institutions, private organizations, and companies with products whose value may be influenced by information contained in an abstract may issue a press release to coincide with the availability of an ACR abstract on the ACR website. However, the ACR continues to require that information that goes beyond that contained in the abstract (e.g., discussion of the abstract done as part of editorial news coverage) is under media embargo until 10:00 AM ET on November 14, 2024. Journalists with access to embargoed information cannot release articles or editorial news coverage before this time. Editorial news coverage is considered original articles/videos developed by employed journalists to report facts, commentary, and subject matter expert quotes in a narrative form using a variety of sources (e.g., research, announcements, press releases, events, etc.).

Violation of this policy may result in the abstract being withdrawn from the meeting and other measures deemed appropriate. Authors are responsible for notifying colleagues, institutions, communications firms, and all other stakeholders related to the development or promotion of the abstract about this policy. If you have questions about the ACR abstract embargo policy, please contact ACR abstracts staff at [email protected].

Wiley

  • Online Journal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Permissions Policies
  • Cookie Preferences

© Copyright 2025 American College of Rheumatology