Autoimmunity Flashcards
what is autoimmunity
it is a immune responses of an organism against its own cells
name two factors that contribute to autoimmunity?
genetic susceptibility
environmental factors
what are the postulated (suggested) mechanism of of autoimmunity?
susceptible genes and failure to self-tolerate
what are the environmental stimuli of autoimmunity ?
o Tissue injury and inflammation:
(Activation of tissue APCs
Activation of self-reactive lymphocytes
Self-reactive effector lymphocytes
Tissue injury: autoimmune diseases)
what HLA alles are more likely to suffer from an autoimmunity disorder?
HLA postive people are 100 times more likely to suffer (eg. develop ankylosing spondylitis)
what is the importance of MHC class II?
it helps activate the CD4+ T cells. CD4+ cells regulate humoral and cell mediated immunity.
why are MHC molecules important?
they present antigens to T lymphocytes, theses help determine whether a foreign antigens in the cells will be recognised by t cells
what are other factors that can lead to the development of autoimmune disease?
bacterial and viral infections
what are not in lesions?
infectious microorganism are not present in lesions, lesions form from immune response that is triggered by microbes
how do infections promotes immunity?
bystander activation and molecular mimicry
what is molecular mimicry?
Microbial Antigens cross-react with self antigen
what are some more factors of autoimmunity? (non-cellular)
alterations of tissue structure that can be the result of inflammation, tissue injury and trauma.
hormonal influences - this effects women more.
