Autoimmunity in Chagas heart disease.
نویسندگان
چکیده
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 actually can occur? (iii) What are the implications of the presence of autoimmunity for other mechanisms of cardiac inflammation?
منابع مشابه
Pathogenesis of Chagas heart disease: role of autoimmunity.
Chagas heart disease is caused by infection with the protozoan parasite Trypanosoma cruzi. The apparent absence of parasites from the hearts of most individuals who succumb to this illness has led some to propose an autoimmune basis for disease pathogenesis. This hypothesis has been extremely difficult to test, because other mechanisms of tissue inflammation may coexist in the setting of active...
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Infection with Trypanosoma cruzi, the agent of Chagas' disease, may induce antibodies and T cells reactive with self antigens (autoimmunity). Because autoimmunity is generally thought to develop during the chronic phase of infection, one hypothesis is that autoimmunity develops only after long-term, low-level stimulation of self-reactive cells. However, preliminary reports suggest that autoimmu...
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عنوان ژورنال:
- International journal for parasitology
دوره 31 5-6 شماره
صفحات -
تاریخ انتشار 1995