Yehuda Shoenfeld

1 – AUTOIMMUNITY AND AUTOIMMUNE DISEASES SUCH AS SYSTEMIC LUPUS ERYTHEMATOSUS

Autoimmunity develops when an individual mounts an anti-self response. This reaction is signaled by the presence of self-reactive antibodies or self-reactive T cells. An autoimmune disease is a condition in which injury to the organs or tissues is caused by autoreactive antibodies or cells. It is clear that these two entities usually coexist; however, a milieu of autoimmunity can exist without an overt autoimmune disease. Paradoxically, even systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) does not fulfill the strict criteria required for a disease to be classified as autoimmune. Nevertheless, SLE remains one of the classical autoimmune diseases due to several reasons. While using the principles of autoimmunity to design therapeutics, it is found that intravenous g-globulin infusion and the exploitation or the principles of oral tolerance are promising. Other novel therapeutic avenues such as bone marrow transplantation, immunomodulation by drugs and peptides, and utilization of MAbs directed against essential components of effector cells are undergoing great change and are encountered more commonly as medications seen at the patient bedside. It is believed that all these advances will lead to more progress in the comprehension and combat against autoimmune diseases; turning the therapeutical measures we employ today more specific, targeting precise steps of the autoimmune reaction.