Table I. Comparison of UWMS flow rate, rheology and dryness assessment for SS patients and healthy controls.
| Sjögren's patients |
Controls |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mean ± S.E. | n | Mean ± S.E. | n | ||
| Age (years) | 55.00 ± 3.16 | 25 | 55.71 ± 3.01 | 35 | |
| CODS (score) | 4.04 ± 0.42a | 24 | 0.27 ± 0.08 | 30 | |
| BI (score) | B5 | 7.46 ± 1.01a | 24 | 0.13 ± 0.06 | 32 |
| B1 | 5.98 ± 0.63a | 0.03 ± 0.03 | |||
| UWMS Flow Rate (ml/min) | 0.15 ± 0.03a | 25 | 0.41 ± 0.04 | 35 | |
| RMS (μl) | AHP | 0.36 ± 0.05b | 24 | 1.09 ± 0.16 | 35 |
| BUC | 2.08 ± 0.21c | 3.05 ± 0.16 | |||
| AT | 2.27 ± 0.26c | 3.28 ± 0.13 | |||
| LL | 1.20 ± 0.18c | 2.18 ± 0.22 | 34 | ||
| RMS MUC7 PAS (staining intensity) | AHP | 1504 ± 886b | 23 | 292 ± 40 | 30 |
| BUC | 488 ± 137 | 23 | 271 ± 43 | 30 | |
| AT | 721 ± 154 | 23 | 266 ± 34 | 30 | |
| LL | 877 ± 200 | 14 | 669 ± 171 | 29 | |
| Spinnbarkeit (mm) | 4.67 ± 0.78d | 21 | 28.54 ± 5.66 | 30 | |
Objective dryness assessment was achieved using the Clinical Oral Dryness Score (CODS). Bother Index (BI), a two-part questionnaire (B1 and B5), was used for subjective dryness assessment. Unstimulated whole mouth saliva (UWMS) flow rate was calculated gravimetrically. Residual mucosal saliva (RMS) was collected and measured from four oral mucosal surfaces: anterior hard palate (AHP), buccal (BUC), anterior tongue (AT), and lower labial (LL) and stained by PAS. Extensional rheological was quantified by measuring saliva spinnbarkeit. Statistical significance is shown as a p ≤ .0001, b p ≤ .05, c p ≤ .001, d p ≤ .01.