Primary Sjögren's syndrome (pSS) is a chronic autoimmune rheumatic disease characterized by inflammation of exocrine glands, mainly salivary and lacrimal glands. In addition, pSS may affect multiple other organs resulting in systemic manifestations. Although the precise etiology of pSS remains elusive, pSS is considered to be a multi-factorial disease, where underlying genetic predisposition, environmental factors and epigenetic mechanisms contribute to disease development. Epigenetic mechanisms, such as DNA methylation, histone modifications and non-coding RNAs, may constitute a dynamic link between genome, environment and phenotypic manifestation by their modulating effects on gene expression. A growing body of studies reporting altered epigenetic landscapes in pSS suggests that epigenetic mechanisms play a role in the pathogenesis of pSS, and the reversible nature of epigenetic modifications suggests therapeutic strategies targeting epigenetic dysregulation in pSS. This article reviews our current understanding of epigenetic mechanisms in pSS and discusses implications for novel diagnostic and therapeutic approaches.

原发性干燥综合征（pSS）是一种慢性自身免疫性风湿性疾病，其特征是外分泌腺（主要是唾液腺和泪腺）发炎。另外，pSS可能影响多个其他器官，导致全身性表现。尽管pSS的确切病因仍然难以捉摸，但是pSS被认为是一种多因素疾病，其中潜在的遗传易感性，环境因素和表观遗传机制有助于疾病的发展。表观遗传机制，例如DNA甲基化，组蛋白修饰和非编码RNA，可能通过对基因表达的调节作用而构成基因组，环境和表型表现形式之间的动态联系。越来越多的研究报告了pSS的表观遗传学景观发生了变化，这表明表观遗传机制在pSS的发病机理中发挥着重要作用，表观遗传修饰的可逆性质表明，针对pSS表观遗传失调的治疗策略。本文回顾了我们目前对pSS中表观遗传机制的理解，并讨论了对新型诊断和治疗方法的启示。