Edited by N. Latov, John H.J. Wokke, and John J. Kelly, Jr. 435 pp., illustrated. New York, Cambridge University Press, 1998. $145. ISBN 0-521-46265-7.
For much of their length, peripheral nerves are protected againstthe immune system by tight capillary endothelial junctions andperineurium. However, this protection is only relative. Lymphocytes,immunoglobulins, complement components, viruses, and toxinscan gain access to motor nerves at their termination in skeletalmuscle and to sensory nerves at the level of the dorsal-rootganglion. Such access can be a recipe for trouble, since peripheralnerves contain molecules that very suitably serve as autoantigens,such as myelin-specific lipids and proteins, and microglia-likecells that can present antigens to lymphocytes. Immune-mediateddamage to the peripheral nervous system may occur in . . . [Full Text of this Article]
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