Mechanisms of Autoimmunity

CTLA4 Gene Variants in Autoimmunity and Cancer: a Comparative Review

Gene association studies are less appealing in cancer compared to autoimmune diseases. Complexity, heterogeneity, variation in histological types, age at onset, short survival, and acute versus chronic conditions are cancer related factors which are different from an organ specific autoimmune disease, such as Grave’s disease, on which a large body of multicentre data is accumulated. For years t...

Psychosis in Three Patients with Vitiligo

Psychotic disorders have been observed in association with some autoimmune disorders. Moreover, autoimmune mechanisms have been recently considered in evaluation of schizophrenia spectrum disease managements. Vitiligo is one of the autoimmune diseases, but there is no report of vitiligo association with psychosis. We report three patients with vitiligo and schizophrenia spectrum disease that ar...

Viral Infections and their Role in Autoimmune Diseases, with Emphasis on Mechanisms and Molecular Interactions

Introduction: The exact cause of most autoimmune diseases is still unknown; however, several factors play a role in causing or exacerbating autoimmune reactions. In addition to environmental factors such as bacterial, parasitic, fungal and viral infections, factors such as genetic characteristics and lifestyle are also included. Infections caused by viruses usually trigger a strong immune respo...

Possible Role of Autoimmunity in Patients with Premature Ovarian Insuf f iciency

Autoimmunity in Chagas heart disease.

The possibility that cardiac autoimmunity contributes to the pathogenesis of Chagas heart disease is controversial. In this paper, we address the following questions regarding the genesis of autoimmunity in Chagas heart disease: (i) What mechanism(s) are potentially responsible for the generation of self-directed antibodies and lymphocytes? (ii) What is the evidence that any of these mechanisms...

Role of miR-146a in Immune System and Autoimmunity

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small preserved non-coding RNA molecules that regulate gene expression post-transcriptionally by targeting the 3' UTR of mRNAs for translational repression or degradation. The rising evidence has established the significant role of miRNAs within the regulation of immune system and the prevention of autoimmunity. MiR-146a has obtained an importance as a modulator of differ...