ACR Meeting Abstracts

ACR Meeting Abstracts

Abstract Number: 2432

Thymic Stromal Lymphopoietin (TSLP) as a Biomarker of Primary Sjögren’s Syndrome (pSS) and Related Lymphoma: Results in Independent Cohorts

Saviana Gandolfo1, Cinzia Fabro 1, Serena Colafrancesco 2, Francesco Carubbi 3, Francesco Ferro 4, Elena Bartoloni 5, Efstathia Kapsogeorgou 6, Andreas Goules 6, Luca Quartuccio 1, Roberta Priori 2, Alessia Alunno 5, Guido Valesini 2, Roberto Giacomelli 3, Roberto Gerli 5, Chiara Baldini 4, Athanasios Tzioufas 6 and Salvatore De Vita 1, 1Rheumatology Clinic, Udine University Hospital, Department of Medical Area, University of Udine, Udine, Italy, Udine, Italy, 2Rheumatology Unit, Department of Internal Medicine and Medical Specialties, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy, Roma, Italy, 3Rheumatology Unit, Department of Biotechnological and Applied Clinical Science, School of Medicine, University of L'Aquila, L'Aquila, Italy, L'Aquila, Italy, 4Rheumatology Unit, Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy, Pisa, Italy, 5Rheumatology Unit, Department of Medicine, University of Perugia, Perugia, Italy, Perugia, Italy, 6Department of Pathophysiology, Athens School of Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece, Athens, Greece

Meeting: 2019 ACR/ARP Annual Meeting

Keywords: , , ,

Session Information

Date: Tuesday, November 12, 2019

Title: Sjögrenʼs Syndrome – Basic & Clinical Science Poster I

Session Type: Poster Session (Tuesday)

Session Time: 9:00AM-11:00AM

Background/Purpose: Thymic stromal lymphopoietin (TSLP) has been implicated in primary Sjögren’s syndrome (pSS) and related B-cell lymphoproliferation / lymphoma (NHL) by tissue studies on salivary glands (SG). It resulted significantly higher in the serum of pSS patients compared to non-pSS sicca and to healthy subjects, with the highest levels in NHL-pSS. The purpose of this work was to confirm that serum TSLP is elevated in pSS by the study of independent cohorts.

Methods: Serum TSLP levels were measured by ELISA in 91 pSS patients (F=86, 94.5%; mean age 57.2 years, 25-80) from the original cohort (cohort 1) of Udine (UD), Italy. In this study, one additional multicentre cohort (cohort 2) from the Italian SS Study Group (GRISS) was studied, including 125 pSS patients from the Universities of Roma (RO), L’Aquila (L’AQ), Pisa (PI) and Perugia (PG). pSS patients with active NHL (n=12 in cohort 1; n=1 in cohort 2) were excluded from comparative analyses to avoid bias. Secondly, additional serum samples from pSS-related NHL in stable and complete remission, from both cohort 1 and 2, were analysed in a separate subgroup (n = 12). Thirdly, a preliminary evaluation of serum TSLP was performed in pSS patients from a different geographical area (University of Athens, Greece; cohort 3).

Results: Cohort 2 included 125 pSS patients (F=114, 91.2%; mean age 58.1 years, 23-84): 124 benign, 1 with NHL. In this cohort, serum TSLP levels were confirmed to be high (mean 30.26 pg/mL, 0.41-95.21) and comparable to cohort 1 (mean 33.81 pg/mL, 0-140.8; p=ns). No difference was found by the separate analysis of pSS from single Centres between each other (RO n=49, mean 33.21, 1.4-95.21; L’AQ n=34, mean 38.6, 16.31-85.11; PI n=28, mean 20.23, 0.41-56.67; PG n=13, mean 19.39, 1.03-68.38; p=ns), and vs cohort 1 (p=ns). The only patient in cohort 2 with NHL showed serum TSLP of 160.91 pg/mL, comparable to the mean TSLP in the 12 UD pSS with NHL (151.96 pg/mL). Importantly, in pSS-related NHL in stable remission, serum TSLP resulted undetectable (7/13) or detectable at very low levels (6/13) (mean 10.46, 0-38.5), and significantly lower than in benign pSS patients from the two cohorts (n=203, mean 31.48, 0-140.8; p=0.0022). Metachronous samples from one patient, at the stage of NHL activity and then at NHL remission, showed a decrease in TSLP from 128.04 pg/mL to undetectable levels. Finally, TSLP levels were increased also in the Greek cohort (mean 54.9, 26.72-78.95), and significantly higher than the two Italian cohorts (p=0.0085 and p< 0.0001, vs cohort 1 and 2, respectively).

Conclusion: Serum TSLP levels are increased in pSS, as herein confirmed in independent cohorts. TSLP might be important in the disease pathophysiology, and mirrors the course of pSS-related B-cell lymphoproliferation. It may represent a novel important biomarker.

Disclosure: S. Gandolfo, None; C. Fabro, None; S. Colafrancesco, None; F. Carubbi, None; F. Ferro, None; E. Bartoloni, None; E. Kapsogeorgou, None; A. Goules, None; L. Quartuccio, None; R. Priori, None; A. Alunno, None; G. Valesini, None; R. Giacomelli, None; R. Gerli, None; C. Baldini, None; A. Tzioufas, None; S. De Vita, None.

To cite this abstract in AMA style:

Gandolfo S, Fabro C, Colafrancesco S, Carubbi F, Ferro F, Bartoloni E, Kapsogeorgou E, Goules A, Quartuccio L, Priori R, Alunno A, Valesini G, Giacomelli R, Gerli R, Baldini C, Tzioufas A, De Vita S. Thymic Stromal Lymphopoietin (TSLP) as a Biomarker of Primary Sjögren’s Syndrome (pSS) and Related Lymphoma: Results in Independent Cohorts [abstract]. Arthritis Rheumatol. 2019; 71 (suppl 10). https://acrabstracts.org/abstract/thymic-stromal-lymphopoietin-tslp-as-a-biomarker-of-primary-sjogrens-syndrome-pss-and-related-lymphoma-results-in-independent-cohorts/. Accessed .

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