Clinical and serological characteristics of peripheral neuropathy in patients with primary Sjögren's syndrome

ObjectiveTo investigate the clinical features and serological characteristics of patients with primary Sjögren's syndrome (pSS) complicated with sensorimotor neuropathy (SMN), and to provide a reference for the clinical diagnosis, disease assessment and treatment of this condition.MethodsA retrospective analysis was conducted on a cohort of 92 patients diagnosed with pSS who were admitted to the Department of Rheumatology and Immunology at Shandong Provincial Hospital between 2016 and 2024. According to the presence and type of peripheral nerve lesions, we divided the patients into three groups: the sensorimotor neuropathy group (SMN group, n = 13), the sensory neuropathy group (SN group, n = 12), and the non-peripheral neuropathy group (nPN group, n = 67). We collected and compared clinical and laboratory data among the three groups and analyzed the neuroelectrophysiological characteristics in the SMN and SN groups.ResultsAmong 92 patients with pSS, 25 (27%) exhibited peripheral nervous system involvement, of which 13 (14%) had SMN. Compared with the nPN group, the SMN group showed lower rates of positivity for SSA antibody, SSB antibody, and rheumatoid factor. Additionally, the SMN group had higher median white blood cell count and neutrophil count scores than the nPN group. When compared with the SN group, the SMN group had a higher median age and a shorter disease duration. The average white blood cell count and median neutrophil count of the SMN group were both higher than those of the SN group.ConclusionsSMN is a common form of peripheral nerve injury observed in pSS patients. These SMN patients display a potentially distinct clinical and serological profile, characterized by low positive rates of anti-SSA/SSB antibodies and rheumatoid factor, as well as elevated peripheral blood inflammatory markers. As this was a single-center, small-sample retrospective observational study, further validation by large-scale prospective studies is warranted.