Treatment of xerostomia in Sjögren's syndrome -what effect does it have on the oral microbiome?

Muszyński, Damian; Kucharski, Robert; Marek- Trzonkowska, Natalia Maria; Kalinowska, Magdalena; Brzóska, Aleksandra; Bolcewicz, Marika; Kalinowski, Leszek; Kaźmierczak-Siedlecka, Karolina

doi:10.3389/fcimb.2025.1484951

REVIEW article

Front. Cell. Infect. Microbiol.

Sec. Microbes and Innate Immunity

Volume 15 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fcimb.2025.1484951

Treatment of xerostomia in Sjögren's syndrome -what effect does it have on the oral microbiome?

Provisionally accepted

Damian Muszyński ¹

Robert Kucharski ²

Natalia Maria Marek- Trzonkowska ³

Magdalena Kalinowska ²

Aleksandra Brzóska ¹

Marika Bolcewicz ²

Leszek Kalinowski ^2*

Karolina Kaźmierczak-Siedlecka ^2*

¹ Scientific Circle of Studies Regarding Personalized Medicine associated with Department of Medical Laboratory Diagnostics, Medical University of Gdansk, Gdańsk, Pomeranian, Poland
² Department of Medical Laboratory Diagnostics – Fahrenheit Biobank BBMRI.pl, Medical University of Gdansk, Gdańsk, Poland
³ Laboratory of Immunoregulation and Cellular Therapies, Department of Family Medicine, Medical University of Gdańsk, Gdańsk, Pomeranian, Poland

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

Sjögren's syndrome is an autoimmune disease characterized by lymphatic infiltration of secretory tissues. The disease results in dryness of the eyeball or mouth, which often occur simultaneously.Agents used to treat Sjögren's syndrome may improve oral hydration and the patient's quality of life.There are several pharmacological and non-pharmacological agents used to treat significant problem like xerostomia. The use of appropriate medicines (i.e. pilocarpine and cevimeline) may cause changes in the local microbiome, which is very sensitive to quantitative changes in water. As a result of Sjögren's syndrome, a new balance of the microbiome is established in the oral cavity, which, if disturbed by medical measures, may increase the risk of oral lesions (such as periodontopathies or caries) or reduce this risk. Overall, the knowledge regarding microbiological aspects and agents treating oral dryness is still not well described but initial results indicate some microbial alterations.

Keywords: Sjögren's syndrome, oral microbiome, Xerostomia, Pilocarpine, Cevimeline, artificial saliva

Received: 22 Aug 2024; Accepted: 10 Mar 2025.

Copyright: © 2025 Muszyński, Kucharski, Marek- Trzonkowska, Kalinowska, Brzóska, Bolcewicz, Kalinowski and Kaźmierczak-Siedlecka. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

* Correspondence:
Leszek Kalinowski, Department of Medical Laboratory Diagnostics – Fahrenheit Biobank BBMRI.pl, Medical University of Gdansk, Gdańsk, Poland
Karolina Kaźmierczak-Siedlecka, Department of Medical Laboratory Diagnostics – Fahrenheit Biobank BBMRI.pl, Medical University of Gdansk, Gdańsk, Poland

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