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Efficacy and safety of orally administered pilocarpine hydrochloride for patients with juvenile-onset Sjögren’s syndrome

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Modern Rheumatology

Abstract

The number of patients with juvenile-onset Sjögren’s syndrome (SS) has recently increased. However, there is no drug that is safe and effective for the xerostomia that occurs in patients of this age group. We evaluated the efficacy and safety of orally administered pilocarpine hydrochloride for juvenile-onset SS patients. Five female patients, aged from 9 to 16 years, received 5–10 mg/day for 4 weeks. On days 1 and 28, salivary production was measured by the Saxon test, and patients completed subjective self-evaluations of xerostomia symptoms and were asked about changes in water intake and overall improvement of dry mouth on day 28. After 4 weeks of pilocarpine administration, salivary production increased significantly in all patients, and overall status was assessed as “improved” in all patients. One patient had excessive sweating. No serious adverse events or laboratory examination abnormalities correlated with pilocarpine administration were found. In conclusion, the results of this study suggest that orally administered pilocarpine is safe and effective for treating xerostomia in juvenile-onset SS patients. This is the first report of the efficacy of pilocarpine for juvenile SS patients; further evaluations are needed to confirm our result.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pediatrics, Graduate School of Medicine, Chiba University, 1-8-1 Inohana, Chuo-ku, Chiba, Chiba, 260-8670, Japan

    Minako Tomiita, Naoki Shimojo & Yoichi Kohno

  2. Department of Pediatrics, Kagoshima University Medical and Dental Hospital, 8-35-1 Sakuragaoka, Kagoshima, Kagoshima, 890-8520, Japan

    Syuji Takei, Naomi Kuwada & Yukiko Nonaka

  3. Sunrise Children’s Clinic, 4-22-10 Motonakayama, Funabashi, Chiba, 273-0035, Japan

    Kimiyuki Saito

Authors
  1. Minako Tomiita
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  2. Syuji Takei
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  3. Naomi Kuwada
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  4. Yukiko Nonaka
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  5. Kimiyuki Saito
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  6. Naoki Shimojo
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  7. Yoichi Kohno
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Minako Tomiita.

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Tomiita, M., Takei, S., Kuwada, N. et al. Efficacy and safety of orally administered pilocarpine hydrochloride for patients with juvenile-onset Sjögren’s syndrome. Mod Rheumatol 20, 486–490 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10165-010-0313-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10165-010-0313-7

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