autoimmune diseases Flashcards
what is the main general cause of autoimmune diseases
inflammatory cytokines and self reactive t cells
What is the main driver of autoimmune disease and what produces it
TNFa produced by macrophages
often due to the effect of pre shapped monocytes
What does TNFa stimulate
attaches to TNF receptor and stims release of NFkB which when translated into the nucleus produces a cascade of inflammatory cytokines
Why does virus induced RA occur
a virus will infect a monocyte progenitor cell and when this happens every other cell that is formed by it will be able to produce TNFa (very pro inflammatory)
What vit is shown to reduce inflamation by boosting this
Vit D is shown to boost IL4 release which supresses inflammatory states
Why are TNF blockers dangerous
Make body more susceptible to viruses bac and cancer as monocytes arnt able to stim response to infection
What do corticosteroid drugs do and ex
predisone- blocks phospholipase A2
What is methotrexate and what does it do
DNA replication blocker
-inhibits dihydrofolate reductase, resulting in inhibition of purine nucleotide and DNA/rna synthesis
What does cyclophosphamide do
in liver is converted to aldophospamide and phosphoramide mustard which bind to DNA inhibiting DNA replication + initiating cell death
What are examples of immuno supressive drugs
Azathioprine
Cyclosporine- lowers activity of T cells/immune response
