Spectrum Of Autoimmune Diseases Research Articles

The pathogenesis of autoimmune disease

The mechanisms of automimmune pathology are normally described on a disease-by-disease basis. Taking a novel angle, Peter Gergely here examines the role of different types of leucocytes across a spectrum of autoimmune diseases, combining the results from a number of Hungarian laboratories.

Autoimmunity to lysosomal enzymes: new clues to vasculitis and glomerulonephritis?

The demonstration of autoantibodies to neutrophil cytoplasmic antigens (ANCA) in (1) systemic vasculitides such as Wegener's granulomatosis, classic polyarteritis nodosa and the Churg Strauss syndrome and (2) idiopathic crescentic glomerulonephritis has placed these disorders within the spectrum of autoimmune diseases. The target antigens have been identified as myeloid lysosomal enzymes that are involved in tissue destruction by neutrophils. Recent data suggest a pathogenetic role for these autoimmune responses. The autoantibodies may activate neutrophils, resulting in extensive tissue necrosis. Alternatively, T-cell-mediated immunity to these positively-charged enzymes that localize to polyamonic basement membranes may, in concert with the presence of autoantibodies, result in glomerulonephritis and vasculitis.

Antigen receptor genes in autoimmune B and T cells.

Abnormal humoral and/or cellular autoimmune responses of sufficient magnitude and duration are sometimes considered the primary, and at other times secondary, contributors to many human and animal diseases (l), Clinically, the wide spectrum of autoimmune diseases has been divided into two main categories: systemic and organ-specific diseases. Types of autoimmune diseases frequenty overlap, and more than one autoimmune disorder tends to occur in the same individual. Among the non-organ-specific diseases, systemic lupus erythematosus serves as the prototype.

Spectrum of Autoimmune Diseases: Facts, Factors, and Formulations

The autoimmune character of at least three experimental diseases (thyroiditis, allergic encephalomyelitis, and aspermatogenesis) "has been established beyond all reasonable doubt," but the precise role of autoantibodies found in sera of patients with pernicious anemia, myasthenia gravis, ulcerative colitis, Addison's disease, and other maladies remains unknown, according to Ernest Witebsky, MD, and Felix Milgrom, MD, of the State University of New York at Buffalo. Milgrom added, "Some investigators believe that sera of patients suffering from cancer contain so-called cancer antibodies. While there is some possible indication that this is true, convincing evidence in humans is missing." Only recently, the physicians toldThe Journal, the concept of autoimmunity has been introduced to explain the pathogenesis of certain diseases of unknown etiology. It has been postulated that in autoimmune disease a structural or functional damage is produced by an immune response against normal components of the body. This represents a proven exception