RT Book, Section
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
SR Print(0)
ID 1155952451
T1 Autoimmunity and Autoimmune Diseases
T2 Harrison's Principles of Internal Medicine, 20e
YR 2018
FD 2018
PB McGraw-Hill Education
PP New York, NY
SN 9781259644016
LK accesspharmacy.mhmedical.com/content.aspx?aid=1155952451
RD 2024/04/19
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.