Table 2.

Morphometric analysis of type III interferon (IFN) staining in minor salivary gland (MSG) tissues.

Type III IFNs			CT	SS	SS‐I	SS‐II	SS‐III	Significance
			Mean value ± s.e.					CT versus SS‐II*	SS‐I versus SS‐II*
Total tissue	IFN‐λ1/IL‐29	%Average positive stain/area	5·47 ± 2·18	4·33 ± 0·87	5·92 ± 1·72	4·10 ± 1·65	3·01 ± 0·97	n.s.	n.s.
		Average intensity/area	8·10 ± 3·28	6·30 ± 1·31	8·73 ± ±2·64	5·94 ± 2·42	4·32 ± 1·44	n.s.	n.s.
	IFN‐λ2/IL‐28A	%Average positive stain/area	22·12 ± 4·14	31·32 ± 3·55	22·63 ± 6·06	40·23 ± 5·16	28·91 ± 6·54	P = 0·0125	P = 0·0376
		Average intensity/area	33·32 ± 6·57	48·84 ± 5·79	34·82 ± 9·59	63·87 ± 8·77	44·26 ± 10·48	P = 0·0114	P = 0·0373
	IFN‐λ3/IL‐28B	%Average positive stain/area	0·16 ± 0·03	0·18 ± 0·02	0·19 ± 0·04	0·25 ± 0·04	0·13 ± 0·03	n.s.	n.s.
		Average intensity/area	24·29 ± 5·03	27·18 ± 3·33	27·96 ± 5·82	37·90 ± 7·05	19·17 ± 4·20	n.s.	n.s.
Ductal epithelium	IFN‐λ1/IL‐29	%Average positive stain/area	3·38 ± 2·52	2·25 ± 0·63	2·86 ± 1·16	1·93 ± 0·83	2·04 ± 1·41	n.s.	n.s.
		Average intensity/area	56·05 ± 7·43	67·19 ± 3·13	70·80 ± 4·50	64·28 ± 6·40	67·14 ± 4·95	n.s.	n.s.
	IFN‐λ2/IL‐28A	%Average positive stain/area	33·88 ± 5·28	40·78 ± 4·52	32·26 ± 8·54	51·97 ± 6·13	35·77 ± 8·35	P = 0·0367	NS
		Average intensity/area	96·71 ± 4·81	105·40 ± 4·96	95·15 ± 9·16	120·00 ± 6·67	98·04 ± 8·81	P = 0·0103	P = 0·0352
	IFN‐λ3/IL‐28B	%Average positive stain/area	43·86 ± 7·86	47·35 ± 4·33	48·82 ± 8·47	56·97 ± ±7·68	37·01 ± 5·86	n.s.	n.s.
		Average intensity/area	118·00 ± 6·85	121·30 ± 4·06	120·60 ± 7·63	129·40 ± 7·87	114·40 ± 5·45	n.s.	n.s.

Sicca controls (CT) = sicca‐complaining non‐SS controls; Sjögren's syndrome (SS)‐I = patients with mild MSG infiltrates; SS‐II with intermediate and SS‐III with severe; n.s. = not significant; IL = interleukin; s.e. = standard error. *Statistical analysis revealed significant differences only between SS‐II (intermediate MSG inflammatory lesions) and CT, as well as SS‐I (mild lesions) and SS‐II.