Sjogren's syndrome in relation to pernicious anaemia and idiopathic Addison's disease.

Abstract

Lymphocytic infiltration of the gastric mucosa in chronic gastritis is associated with the development of pernicious anaemia in a proportion of cases (Anderson, Buchanan, and Goudie, I967). More than 40 per cent. of patients suffering from pernicious anaemia can be shown to have antibodies to gastric parietal cells (Irvine, Davies, Delamore, and Williams, I962; Markson and Moore, I962; Taylor, Roitt, Doniach, Couchman, and Shapland, I962; Irvine, I963a). It occurred to the investigators that the lymphocytic infiltration in chronic gastritis might be similar to that found in the lacrimal and salivary glands in Sjogren's syndrome and it is to be noted that a series of patients suffering from this disease was found to have a high incidence of autoantibodies to gastric parietal cells (Buchanan, Cox, Harden, Glen, Anderson, and Gray, I966). Furthermore, patients suffering from pernicious anaemia have a high incidence of thyroglobulin antibodies (Irvine and others, I962; Markson and Moore, I962; Taylor and others, I962; Doniach, Roitt, and Taylor, I 963) as do patients with Sj6gren's syndrome (Anderson, Goudie, Gray, and Buchanan, I96I; Bloch, Buchanan, Wohl, and Bunim, I965).