Detection of Human T Lymphotropic Virus Type-I BZIP Factor and Tax in the Salivary Glands of Sjögren's Syndrome Patients

Objectives: To detect HTLV-I bZIP factor (HBZ), tax and relevant molecules in labial salivary glands (LSGs) from patients with Sjögren's syndrome (SS).

Methods: The expressions of HBZ and tax in T cell lines and LSGs were analysed by in situ hybridization (ISH) or real time PCR. The expressions of forkhead box P3 (Foxp3) and p65 in immunohistochemistry were quantified.

Results: After specificity of ISH probes was determined in 5 T cell lines, in LSGs from an adult T-cell leukemia (ATL) patient and 3 HTLV-I-associated myelopathy (HAM)-SS patients, both HBZ and tax signals were detected in infiltrating mononuclear cells (MNCs) and ducts, and HBZ and tax were dominantly expressed in MNCs of ATL and HAM-SS, respectively. HBZ was dominantly observed in LSGs from 8 HTLV-I asymptomatic carrier (AC)-SS patients; faint expression of HBZ was observed in LSGs from 5 HTLV-I-seronegative SS patients. No cell adhesion molecule 1(CADM1) expressed in LSGs from the ATL patient. Although Foxp3 expression was observed in LSG MNCs of all of the SS patients, the ATL patient's expression was significantly greater than that of the AC-SS (p<0.01) and HTLV-I-seronegative SS (p<0.01) patients. The Foxp3 expression was similar in ATL and HAMSS, but significantly higher in HAM-SS than AC-SS (p<0.05). p65 was expressed in LSG MNC nuclei from all SS patients and co-expressed with Foxp3. The expressions of Foxp3 in ducts differed according to HTLV-I infection.

Conclusions: These results suggest that HBZ-mediated Foxp3 expression is partly associated with the pathogenesis of HTLV-I-seropositive SS.