Abstract
To evaluate the effect of pilocarpine hydrochloride for the treatment of dry mouth in patients with Sjögren's syndrome, 37 patients received 5 mg of pilocarpine hydrochloride three times daily, once after each meal, for 12 weeks. The increase in the saliva secretional capacity, the subjective and objective assessment of mouth dryness, and the subjective assessment of mouth dryness using a visual analogue scale;(VAS) were evaluated in this study. An improvement in all the subjects was observed beginning 4 weeks after the administration of pilocarpine hydrochloride. Twelve patients stopped taking pilocarpine because of adverse effects, mainly excessive sweating and nausea. However, no severe adverse effects occurred among the patients who continued treatment. Thus, pilocarpine hydrochloride appears to be effective for dry mouth associated with Sjögren's syndrome.
