Prospects for Autoimmune Disease

Prospects for B-cell-targeted therapy in autoimmune disease.

Reasons for targeting B cells in autoimmune disease date back to the discovery of autoantibodies over 50 yr ago [1]. The idea became of practical interest when anti-B cell monoclonal antibodies were developed in the early 1990s [2, 3]. Fortuitously, at about the same time it became clear that B cells are not simply the subordinate foot soldiers of an immune response but may be as important as T...

FK 506 and autoimmune disease: perspective and prospects.

Autoimmune Inner Ear Disease- A Clinical Viewpoint

Recent developments in medicine have given us a better insight into a group of disorders known as autoimmune diseases. In particular, advances have occurred in our understanding of the Autoimmune Inner Ear Disease (AIED). In this article, the authors review the different postulated theories in the pathogenesis of this disease. The clinical presentation, the available para-clinical diagnostic to...

Multiple sclerosis, an autoimmune inflammatory disease: prospects for its integrative management.

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is aptly named for the many scars it produces in the brain and spinal cord. A sometimes fatal, often debilitating disease, MS features autoimmune inflammatory attack against the myelin insulation of neurons. Thymus derived (T) cells sensitized against myelin self-antigens secrete tumor necrosis factor, cytokines, prostaglandins, and other inflammatory mediators that stri...

Autoimmune hepatitis: current challenges and future prospects

Autoimmune hepatitis (AIH) is a chronic progressive liver disease characterized by high levels of aminotransferases and autoantibodies, hypergammaglobulinemia, and interface hepatitis. AIH affects all races and all ages worldwide, regardless of sex, although a preponderance of females is a constant finding. The etiology of AIH has not been completely elucidated, but immunogenetic background and...