Microbiome in Sjögren's syndrome: here we are.

Manasson et al 1 wrote an interesting review on what is known with regard to the application of microbiome research for diagnostic and research purposes within autoimmunity and rheumatology. The authors focused this review on the connection between the microbiome and rheumatoid arthritis (RA) as for long it has been presumed that microbiota are contributors to the development and progression of RA. Besides RA, the review also discussed microbiome studies in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and systemic sclerosis. Remarkably, no attention was paid by Manasson et al to the potential involvement of the microbiome in Sjogren’s syndrome (SS). SS is the second most prevalent systemic rheumatic autoimmune disease after RA and the potential involvement of the microbiome in SS-patients is yet also extensively reported. The current knowledge on the relationship between the human microbiome and SS reveals possible pathogenic mechanisms and forms a basis for future treatment options through influencing the microbiome. Thus, the current knowledge on the SS–microbiome connection is an important addition to the review of Manasson et al .1 Thus far, all studies that compared the gut microbiome of SS patients with healthy or population controls have shown that the composition of the gut microbiome in SS patients differs from controls.2–7 Mandl et al 3 found that severe intestinal …