Researchers identify candidate vaccine for Sjgre...( is currently no effective therapy for S...)

By removing the gene that produces the ICA69 protein, mice that normally develop Sjgren syndrome had no tear gland disease and a much reduced salival disease. In the mouse model, the prototype vaccine was able to stop disease progression.

"Our vaccine was able to stop Sjgren syndrome even after the disease had fully developed, an unusual finding, since in other autoimmune disorders it is impossible so far to stop and reverse the disease process once it is fully established," said Dr. Dosch, the study's principal investigator and a professor of Paediatrics and Immunology at U of T. "This finding is also exciting because it opens the door to further knowledge about treating selective organ autoimmune diseases, including the possibility of vaccines. In autoimmune diseases such as type 1 diabetes, it is difficult to assess the effectiveness and learn how to use vaccines, since the target organ cannot be examined. With Sjgren syndrome, the organ attacked by autoimmunity (the exocrine glands) are accessible to study, unlike the pancreas in diabetes, for example."

Dr. Dosch's research group collaborated with Dr. Arthur Bookman, a rheumatologist at Toronto Western Hospital, to compare the autoimmune response to the ICA69 protein in the mouse model to human patients, which was strikingly similar.

"We are planning a study that will involve at least 100 Sjgren patients so we can learn more about the connection between this protein and patients' autoimmunity in preparation for possible trials of the vaccine in humans," said Dr. Arthur Bookman, a co-author of the study, coordinator of the Multicisciplinary Sjgren's Clinic at the University Health Network, and an associate professor of Medicine at U of T.

'"/>

Contact: Laura Greer
laura.greer@sickkids.ca
416-813-5046
University of Toronto
3-Oct-2002