A study by the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation is answering some questions about an autoimmune disease and how it correlates with aging.
OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) - A study by the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation is answering some questions about Sjögren's, an autoimmune disease that impacts moisture-producing glands.
According to OMRF, Sjögren's can cause dry eyes and mouth, irreversible tissue damage, neurological problems, lung disease and cancer. The autoimmune disease affects up to 4 million Americans.
OMRF scientists Harini Bagavant, Ph.D., and Umesh Deshmukh, Ph.D., have studied why Sjögren's is a higher risk for older people. The median age for diagnosis is 52 years old, and woman are nine times more likely to have it than men.
“We found that as normal mice age, many of them spontaneously get the same features we see in Sjögren's disease in humans,” Bagavant said. “The aging process drives the inflammation in the glands.”
The study found that a certain white blood cell linked with aging grows rapidly and enters the salivary glands in older mice, causing inflammation and lower immune tolerance.
Officials say white blood cells normally circulate in the blood and lymph and make antibodies to shield our bodies from infection. OMRF's study shows that the certain cell type was also discovered in multiple organs. This raised even more questions.
“The fact that we found them in the salivary gland, just spontaneously accumulating along with the presence of inflammation, tells us they must be doing something,” Bagavant said. “Figuring that out is our next step.”
Their discovery is leaving the door open for future of research into Sjögren's and possible other autoimmune diseases. Scientists say dependable research needs age-appropriate research models like mice between the ages of 15 to 24 months old.
“What our study suggests is that if you want to test a potential drug, and your target population is older humans, those drugs should be tested in age-matched animal models,” Deshmukh said. “As more research is done, I believe we’ll see a directive on this topic from the National Institutes of Health.”
