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Previous Volume 345:340-350 August 2, 2001 Number 5 Next

	Since this article has no abstract, we have provided an extract of the first 100 words of the full text and any section headings.

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Autoimmune diseases, with the exception of rheumatoid arthritis and autoimmune thyroiditis, are individually rare, but together they affect approximately 5 percent of the population in Western countries.^1,2 They are a fascinating but poorly understood group of diseases. In this review, we define an autoimmune disease as a clinical syndrome caused by the activation of T cells or B cells, or both, in the absence of an ongoing infection or other discernible cause. We will discuss a classification of autoimmune disease that distinguishes diseases caused by generalized defects in lymphocyte selection or homeostasis from those caused by aberrant responses to particular . . . [Full Text of this Article]

Classification of Autoimmune Diseases

Genetic Susceptibility

Initiation of Autoreactivity

Environmental Triggers

Infectious Agents

Noninfectious Triggers

Loss of Regulatory Cells

Disease Progression

Epitope Spreading

Pathogenic Mechanisms

Tissue Injury

Therapeutic Strategies for Specific Diseases

Rheumatoid Arthritis

Multiple Sclerosis

Psoriasis

Type 1 Diabetes

Systemic Lupus Erythematosus

Future Therapeutic Approaches

Source Information

From the Departments of Microbiology and Immunology and Medicine, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, N.Y.

Address reprint requests to Dr. Diamond at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, 1300 Morris Park Ave., Bronx, NY 10461, or at diamond@aecom.yu.edu.

References

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