Long-term Therapeutic Effect of M3 Muscarinic Acetylcholine Receptor Agonists in Patients with Sjögren’s Syndrome

Abstract

： To evaluate the efficacy of long-term administration of M3 muscarinic acetylcholine receptor （M3R） agonists for Sjögrenʼs syndrome （SS）, we evaluated 62 patients with SS who were treated at our hospital for more than 8 years. Patients receiving M3R agonist therapy （n＝46） had significantly improved salivary flow rate at one year after treatment initiation compared with before treatment, and this improvement was maintained for 8 years. Patients with-out M3R agonist therapy （n＝16） had a significantly decreased salivary flow rate at 7 years after treatment initiation compared with before treatment. Multivariate analysis revealed that both the salivary flow rate and sonographic find-ings of the parotid glands before treatment were significant predictors of the efficacy of M3R agonist therapy in patients with SS （p＜0.05）. M3R agonists improve the salivary flow rate, especially in the early stage of SS. Our data suggest that early initiation and long-term continuation of M3R agonist therapy are important in the treatment of xerostomia in patients with SS.