SALIVARY BETA(2)-MICROGLOBULIN IN NZB/WF1 MICE

Unstimulated parotid and submandibular/sublingual saliva from New Zealand black/WF1 (NZB/WF1) mice as collected by microcapillary (1 mu l), and the content of beta(2)-microglobulin (beta(2)-MG) determined by a sandwich enzyme immunoassay. Salivary beta(2)-MG contents of control C57BL/6 and NZB/WF1 mice (45 weeks of age) were 0.68 +/- 0.18 mu g/ml and 1.42 +/- 0.21 mu g/ml (mean +/- SD), respectively, from the parotid gland and 0.62 +/- 0.17 mu g/ml and 1.34 +/- 0.21 mu l/ml, respectively, from the submandibular sublingual glands. However, the concentration of beta(2)-MG was not increased in the NZB/WF1 mice at 5 and 20 weeks of age. Saliva from NZB/WF1 mice (45 weeks old) was fractionated by micro two-dimensional gel electrophoresis; it exhibited both qualitative and quantitative changes in protein composition in comparison to the two-dimensional at 5 weeks of age. These observations parallel those in saliva from patients with Sjogren's syndrome.