Funds are requested to support the Second International Symposium on Sjogren's Syndrome which will be held in Austin, Texas from October 23-25, 1988. This meeting is an opportunity for international authorities as well as many American rheumatologists to discuss a disease of great interest to biology, dentistry and medicine. The specific needs for this conference come out of the natural history of this multifactorial illness which has attracted considerable interest among basic medical and dental scientists as well as clinicians representing several different disciplines. The syndrome is considered one of the rheumatic diseases and is related to rheumatoid arthritis and systemic lupus erythematosus. The Symposium's organization will progress from basic science (understanding the disease at a basic level focusing on immunogenetic and autoimmune mechanisms) and then progress to specific clinical problems in medicine and dentistry. The cloning of autoantigen genes, the role of lymphokines and other immunoregulatory factors, and the possible role of virus infection will be discussed. One of our goals is to address the issue of diagnostic classification since many patients have overlapping clinical syndromes which have created considerable difficulties in recent years particularly with regard to central nervous system manifestations. Two workshops will deal with new forms of treatment and the epidemiology of Sjogren's Syndrome. The Directors of all NIH funded Multipurpose Arthritis Centers will be invited in hopes of developing an epidemiologic research collaboration between these centers. Information to come out of this meeting related to growth factors and lymphocyte biology may also stimulate future research in neoplasia and carcinogenesis since Sjogren's Syndrome is an interface disease in which 5-10% of patients develop malignant lymphoproliferation.
