Vol.20 No.5

Original Article

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

Authors

Minako Tomiita1 , Syuji Takei2 , Naomi Kuwada2 , Yukiko Nonaka2 , Kimiyuki Saito3 , Naoki Shimojo1 , Yoichi Kohno1

  • Department of Pediatrics, Graduate School of Medicine, Chiba University
  • Department of Pediatrics, Kagoshima University Medical and Dental Hospital
  • Sunrise Children’s Clinic, 4-22-10 Motonakayama, Funabashi Chiba
Received:

12 February 2010

Accepted:

20 April 2010

Published online:

3 June 2010

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Abstract

The number of patients with juvenile-onset Sj?gren’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.

Key words

Juvenile onset - Pilocarpine - Salivary glands - Sj?gren’s syndrome - Xerostomia