| Background. The purpose of this study was to examine salivary calmodulin-binding-proteins in Sjogren's syndrome. Methods. Stimulated parotid saliva was collected, separated on 10% SDS-PAGE and transferred onto nitrocellulose membrane. Calmodulin overlay was used to identify calmodulin-binding-proteins in saliva. Mann-Whitney-U test was used to compare salivary flow rate, total salivary protein, and calmodulin-binding-proteins between patients and controls. Results. The mean salivary flow rate was 0.24+/-0.03 ml/min/gland for patients vs. 0.27+/-0.04 ml/min/gland for controls. Total salivary protein was 158.00+/-18.00 mg% for patients vs. 117.25+/-13.84 mg% for controls. Higher number of calmodulin-binding-proteins (3-6) was observed among patients than controls (2-5). No significant difference was observed in salivary flow rate between the two groups (p=0.66). However, significant differences were observed in total salivary protein (p=0.03) and the number of calmodulin-binding-proteins (p=0.0008) between patients and controls. Conclusions. The increased number of salivary calmodulin-binding-proteins in Sjogren's syndrome may suggest a role for calmodulin in the pathogenesis of the disease. |
