PBMCs from patients with Sjögren's syndrome and healthy controls

Sjögren's syndrome is an autoimmune disease manifesting primarily as dryness of eyes and mouth. In this study, we compared gene expression in PBMCs between age- and gender-matched patients with Sjögren's syndrome (diagnosed by ACR criteria) and healthy controls. Cells were collected in heparinized tubes and PBMCs were prepared using Ficoll. Eleven patients with Sjögren's syndrome and 16 healthy controls were analyzed for expression of TRIM21, IRF1, IRF2, IRF4 and IRF8.