Reply: “Toward a more translational SS-ILD model: Sex differences, endpoints, and B cell targets”

We express our gratitude for Pagnoni and colleagues’ thorough review of our article1 and the insightful commentary on our Sjögren’s syndrome related interstitial lung disease (SS-ILD) mouse model. We highly appreciate their suggestions, which we believe will significantly enhance the quality of our research. We concur with their recommendation to extend the study duration to 42 to 56 d and to incorporate lung function measurements, as these modifications would more accurately represent the chronic progression observed in patients. We are planning to implement these changes. Additionally, Pagnoni and colleagues’ proposals to test various doses of bleomycin or to employ alternative models, such as silica, to differentiate local from systemic effects are invaluable. These approaches have the potential to elucidate disease mechanisms more clearly. The consideration of sexual dimorphism is of paramount importance in this study. We acknowledge the limitation inherent in utilizing exclusively female NOD/Ltj mice. Future research will incorporate both sexes and perform sex-stratified analyses to investigate the influence of gender on the development and progression of SS-ILD, thereby aligning with clinically observed differences.