Les anticorps contre les récepteurs muscariniques : s'agit-il d'un nouvel argument dans le diagnostic d'un syndrome de Gougerot-Sjögren ?

Exocrine glands are regulated by parasympathetic nerves which release acetylcholine and activate muscarinic type-3 receptors (M3). A variety of methods, including Western blotting, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays and bioassays have revealed that patients with Sjögren's syndrome harbor anti-M3 autoantibody. However, such approaches, with chinese hamster ovary cells transfected with the human M3 gene, or with synthetic peptides homologous to M3 as the substrate, have proved disappointing. Based on the importance of these autoAb, further analyses warrant to be launched.