Serum exosomal miRNA profile as a candidate biomarker for early diagnosis of Sjogrens Syndrome

Sjogrens Syndrome (SS) is an autoimmune disease affecting about 1% of the general population. It is characterized by progressive lymphocytic infiltration of moisture producing exocrine glands and systemic inflammation. Diagnosis of SS is subjective, and complicated by symptoms that overlap other rheumatic diseases. Due to this SS diagnosis is delayed by 4 -5 years. Thus, there is an urgent need of a specific diagnostic biomarker that can identify SS patients in early stages of SS such that irreversible tissue damage may be prevented. To this end we have isolated serum exosomal small non-coding RNA, and profiled it using Next generation Sequencing.