Autoimmunity is the failure of an organism to recognize its own constituent parts as self, which allows an immune response against its own cells and tissues. The term ‘autoimmunity’ coined by the German immunologist Paul Ehrlich (1854-1915) to describe the body's innate aversion to immunological self-destruction.
This condition that occurs when the immune system mistakenly attacks and destroys healthy body tissue. Certain individuals are genetically susceptible to developing autoimmune diseases. This susceptibility is associated with multiple genes plus other risk factors. Genetically-predisposed individuals do not always develop autoimmune diseases.
Types -:
autoimmunity mainly categorises in to two classes.
Three main sets of genes are suspected in many autoimmune diseases-:
- Immunoglobulins
- T-cell receptors
- The major histocompatibility complexes (MHC).
Causes of Autoimmunity
n Pathogens, drugs, hormones, and toxins are just a few ways that the environment can trigger autoimmunity
.
Pathogenesis of autoimmunity-:
o T-Cell Bypass
o T-Cell-B-Cell discordance
o Aberrant B cell receptor-mediated feedback
o Molecular Mimicry
o Idiotype Cross-Reaction
o Cytokine Dysregulation
Symptoms
Initial diagnosis may be missed in patients as diseases present with general symptoms like-:
Fever, muscle ache, fatigue, joint pain.
Disease specific manifests
SLE – rash
Sjogren’s – dry mouth, dry eyes
Diagnosis
Possible treatment option for autoimmunity are :
Anti-inflammatory drugs
• NSAIDS, Corticosteroids
Immunosuppressant drugs
• Methotrexate
Radiation
Plamapheresis
Cell Blocking Reagents
• aCD20 (Rituxan)
• aCD3 (Teplizumab)
Cytokine Blocking Reagents
• TNF (Humira, Enbrel).
The major challenges facing research in autoimmune diseases today are
(1) Development of a mechanism-based, conceptual understanding of autoimmune disease.
(2) Translation of this knowledge into new, broadly applicable strategies for treatment and prevention of multiple diseases.
(3) Development of sensitive tools for early and definitive diagnosis, disease staging, and identification of at-risk individuals.
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