Sjögren's syndrome: immunological response underlying the disease.

uence predispositionfor development of the autoimmune response. These data are reviewed here.Key words: NOD mouse; autoimmune exocrinopathy; cytokine knock-out mice; autoantibody.IntroductionSjogren’s syndrome is defined as a chronic inflam-matory autoimmune disorder primarily affecting the la-crimal and salivary exocrine glands. However, the dis-order has also been associated with numerousextraglandular manifestations affecting such diversetissues as the cardiovascular, central nervous, and renalsystems