Studies on pancreatic function in Sjögren's syndrome

Pancreozymin-Secretin test (PS test) was conducted for 25 cases of Sjörgen's syndrome (SjS) for the purpose of studying pancreatic lesions in SjS. Pancreatic juice was collected for 60 minutes after intravenous injection of secretion, and concentrations of β2-microglobulin (β2-m) and Lactoferin (LF) in pancreatic juice were determined by Radioimmunoassay. Additionally, continuous determination of urine amylase was made for the same cases, and the usefulness of this method as a screening test for pancreatic lesions was studied. As a result, only one case (4%) showed a definite decline in the pancreatic secretory function in the PS test. However, the ß2-m level in pancreatic juice was high in 10 (45%) out of 22 cases and the LF level was likewise high in 8 (36%) out of 22 cases, the difference being significant compared with the normal control group (p<0.05, p<0.1). Sixteen (64%) out of 25 cases were positive to the urine amylase continuous determination test. With this method, however, amylase from the salivary gland should be taken into consideration in SjS. If used in combination with analysis of isoenzyme, this method may be useful as a screening test. Judging from results above, such a diminished pancreatic secretory function as poses a clinical problem is rare in SjS, but high levels of β2-m and LF suggest the presence of subclinical pancreatic lesion.