| Literature DB >> 19076824 |
Abstract
Autoimmunity occurs when the immune system recognizes and attacks host tissue. In addition to genetic factors, environmental triggers (in particular viruses, bacteria and other infectious pathogens) are thought to play a major role in the development of autoimmune diseases. In this review, we (i) describe the ways in which an infectious agent can initiate or exacerbate autoimmunity; (ii) discuss the evidence linking certain infectious agents to autoimmune diseases in humans; and (iii) describe the animal models used to study the link between infection and autoimmunity.Entities:
Mesh:
Year: 2009 PMID: 19076824 PMCID: PMC2665673 DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2249.2008.03834.x
Source DB: PubMed Journal: Clin Exp Immunol ISSN: 0009-9104 Impact factor: 4.330