TY - CHAP M1 - Book, Section TI - Autoimmunity and Autoimmune Diseases A1 - Diamond, Betty A1 - Lipsky, Peter E. A2 - Jameson, J. Larry A2 - Fauci, Anthony S. A2 - Kasper, Dennis L. A2 - Hauser, Stephen L. A2 - Longo, Dan L. A2 - Loscalzo, Joseph PY - 2018 T2 - Harrison's Principles of Internal Medicine, 20e AB - One of the central features of the immune system is the capacity to mount an inflammatory response to potentially harmful foreign materials while avoiding damage to self-tissues. Whereas recognition of self plays an important role in shaping the repertoires of immune receptors on both T and B cells and in clearing apoptotic and other tissue debris from sites throughout the body, the development of potentially harmful immune responses to self-antigens is, in general, prohibited. The essential feature of an autoimmune disease is that tissue injury is caused by the immunologic reaction of the organism against its own tissues. Autoimmunity, on the other hand, refers merely to the presence of antibodies or T lymphocytes that react with self-antigens and does not necessarily imply that the self-reactivity has pathogenic consequences. Autoimmunity is present in all individuals and increases with age; however, autoimmune disease occurs only in those individuals in whom the breakdown of one or more of the basic mechanisms regulating immune tolerance results in self-reactivity that can cause tissue damage. SN - PB - McGraw-Hill Education CY - New York, NY Y2 - 2024/04/19 UR - accesspharmacy.mhmedical.com/content.aspx?aid=1155952451 ER -