Oral manifestations of hepatitis C virus infection

Table 3 Main clinical, serological, histological, genetic differences between sialadenitis in Sjogren’s syndrome and hepatitis C virus +ve patients

Variable	Sjögren's syndrome	Hepatitis C virus
Sicca symptoms	Commonly present	Usually absent or modest
Parotid swelling	Moderate to severe	Mild to moderate
Extra-glandular manifestations	Mainly pulmonary, gastrointestinal, renal, and neurologic involvement	Mainly gastrointestinal and musculo-skeletal involvement
Histology	Periductal lymphocytic infiltration	Pericapillary lymphocytic infiltration
Infiltrating lymphocytic phenotype	Predominantly CD4+ T cells	Mixed CD4+/CD8+ T cells
Autoantibodies	High-frequency RF, ANA, anti-Ro/SSA and anti-La/SSB, alpha-fodrin antibodies	High frequency of RF, ANA, alpha-fodrin, low prevalence of anti-Ro/SSA and anti-La/SSB antibodies, high frequency of cryoglobulins
HLA association	B8, DR2 and DR3	DQB1*02
Lymphomagenesis	Preferentially affecting salivary glands	Affecting both liver and salivary glands

Modified from Vitali[60]. Sicca symptoms: Dry eyes/dry mouth. ANA: Antinuclear antibodies; RF: Rheumatoid factor; HLA: Human leukocyte antigen.