Sjogren’s syndrome;

My patient with primary Sjogren’s syndrome has now been diagnosed with COPD despite lack of a significant smoking history. Is there a connection between Sjogren’s syndrome and COPD?

FA Manian MD, MPH, , , , , Leave a comment

Increasing body of evidence suggests that COPD in patients with primary Sjögren’s syndrome (PSS) is not uncommon even among those who never smoked (1).

 
A 2015 study of patients with PSS reported that overall 41% of patients with PSS, including 30% of those who never smoked, fulfilled the Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD) criteria for COPD. More specifically, pulmonary function tests (PFTs) showed decreased vital capacity (VC), forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV-1)  and DLCO in patients with PSS. Importantly, lab inflammatory and serological features were poorly associated with PFT results, while radiographic signs of interstitial lung disease (ILG) were absent in one-half of patients with PSS and COPD (1).

 
A longitudinal study with a mean follow-up of 11 years found a 37% rate of development of COPD among patients with PSS (2). Another related study reported a poor correlation between respiratory symptoms and COPD disease as assessed by PFTs in PSS, with the authors recommending that PFTs be performed “liberally” in all patients with PSS regardless of symptoms (3).

 
Lastly, a population-based cohort study of female adults found significantly higher rate of COPD among patients with PSS compared to controls (4).

 
Although the exact pathogenic mechanism behind PSS-associated COPD is unclear, xerotrachea and impaired mucocilliary clearance, as well as inflammatory infiltrates in the exocrine glands of the airways, all leading to physical obstruction and bronchial hyperreactivity have been suggested (1).

 

Bonus Pearl: Did you know that COPD is associated with many other autoimmune diseases (eg, rheumatoid arthritis and systemic lupus erythematosus), and a genetic link has been implicated between COPD and autoimmunity? (5,6).

 

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References
1. Nilsson AM, Diaz S, Theander E, et al. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease is common in never-smoking patients with primary Sjögren’s syndrome. J Rheumatol 2015;42:464-71. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/270907531_Chronic_Obstructive_Pulmonary_Disease_Is_Common_in_Never-smoking_Patients_with_Primary_Sjogren_Syndrome
2. Mandl T, Diaz S, Ekberg O, et al. Frequent development of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in primary SS-result of a longitudinal follow-up. Rheumatology 2012;51:941-46. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/221760110_Frequent_development_of_chronic_obstructive_pulmonary_disease_in_primary_SS-results_of_a_longitudinal_follow-up
3. Bolmgren VS, Olssson P, Wollmer P, et al. Respiratory symptoms are poor predictors of concomitant chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in patients with primary Sjögren’s syndrome. Rheumatol Int 2017;37:813-18. https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s00296-017-3678-5.pdf
4. Shen TC, Wu BR, Chen HJ, et al. Risk of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in female adults with primary Sjögren’s syndrome. A nationwide population-based cohort study. Medicine 2016; 95:1-6. http://europepmc.org/abstract/MED/26962839
5. Hemminki K, Liu X, Ji J et al. Subsequent COPD and lung cancer in patients with autoimmune disease. Eur Respir J 2011;37:463-74. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21282811
6. Ji X, Niu X, Qian J, et al. A phenome-wide association study uncovers a role for autoimmunity in the development of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Resp Cell Mol Biol 2018;58:777-79. https://www.atsjournals.org/doi/10.1165/rcmb.2017-0409LE

My patient with primary Sjogren’s syndrome has now been diagnosed with COPD despite lack of a significant smoking history. Is there a connection between Sjogren’s syndrome and COPD?