Molecular Insights into Oral Manifestations in Sjögren’s Disease

Sjögren’s Disease is an autoimmune epithelitis targeting the exocrine glands, predominantly the salivary and lacrimal glands, resulting in the major symptoms of dry mouth and dry eyes. The aim of this study is to review the pertinent literature on studies linking the oral manifestations of SjD patients, with the underlying molecular events driving SjD pathogenesis. These include mechanisms inducing innate sensing in salivary gland epithelial cells, activation of interferon signaling pathway, amplification of cytokines and chemokines, and orchestration of the inflammatory milieu in salivary glands, as well as mechanisms inducing salivary epithelial tissue destruction and secretory dysfunction, such as programmed cell death pathways, mitochondrial dysfunction, structural disorganization, loss of junctional integrity, and quantitative and qualitative aberrations in salivary secretory process.