Several strains of mice, including MRL/MpJ mice homozygous for the Fas mutant lpr gene (MRL/lpr mice), F(1) hybrids of New Zealand Black and New Zealand White mice, and BXSB/MpJ mice carrying a Y-linked autoimmune acceleration gene, spontaneously develop immune complex-mediated glomerulonephritis. The involvement of the envelope glycoprotein gp70 of an endogenous xenotropic virus in the formati...

OBJECTIVE Skin and ear infections, primarily caused by Pseudomonas aeruginosa (P. aeruginosa), are recurrent problems for saturation divers, whereas infections caused by P. aeruginosa are seldom observed in healthy people outside saturation chambers. Cystic fibrosis (CF) patients suffer from pulmonary infections by P. aeruginosa, and it has been demonstrated that CF patients have high levels of...

The presence of the antibodies against the main thyroid antigens, which include thyroid peroxidase (TPO) or microsomal antigen, thyroglobulin (Tg) as well as thyrotropin receptor or Thyroid Stimulating Hormone Receptor (TSH-R), is a hallmark and symbol of the autoimmune thyroid diseases (AITDs) as one of the most common autoimmune diseases (AD) around the world. The prevalence of the thyroid pe...

Pemphigus is a severe autoimmune-blistering disease of the skin and mucous membranes caused by autoantibodies reducing desmosomal adhesion between epithelial cells. Autoantibodies against the desmosomal cadherins desmogleins (Dsgs) 1 and 3 as well as desmocollin 3 were shown to be pathogenic, whereas the role of other antibodies is unclear. Dsg3 interactions can be directly reduced by specific ...

1.1 The B-cell response in autoimmune disease1 The pathological effects of autoimmune diseases on the target tissues can be mediated by autoantibodies, cell-mediated immune responses, or both. It is increasingly evident that some autoimmune diseases previously thought to be essentially T-cell-mediated also have a B-cell component, which may involve direct effects of autoantibody secreted by pla...

A distribution of immunoglobulin G (IgG) subclass of anti-thyroid peroxidase (TPO) autoantibodies was studied to know whether anti-TPO autoantibodies are closely implicated in the pathogenesis of human autoimmune thyroid diseases. As a result of analyzing 14 patients' sera, 7 with Graves' disease and 7 with Hashimoto's thyroiditis, anti-TPO autoantibodies were found to consist of mainly IgG1 su...

IMPORTANCE Pemphigus vulgaris (PV) is a disease that features blistering of the skin and mucous membranes caused by autoantibodies directed against desmoglein 3 (Dsg3) and/or desmoglein 1(Dsg1). Indirect immunofluorescence (IIF) and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) are 2 methods that are widely used to measure Dsg3 orDsg1 antibody titers in PV. Although the titers of these autoantibodi...

Herein, we report a case of paraneoplastic pemphigus with mild skin features of pemphigus foliaceus and lichenoid stomatitis associated with B-cell lymphoma. A 49-year-old man presented with scattered blisters and erosions on the trunk along with mucosal blisters and erosions. Skin biopsy showed subcorneal acantholytic bulla and oral mucosal biopsy demonstrated lichenoid dermatitis. Direct immu...

Serologic identification of circulating autoantibodies has proven useful in the diagnosis of patients with autoimmune disorders. In vitro and in vivo1–5 observations suggest that some autoantibodies are more than just serologic markers; they also participate in the pathogenesis of disease. Shining examples of pathogenic autoantibodies are anti-glomerular basement membrane (anti-GBM) autoantibod...

OBJECTIVE The identification of novel autoantibodies in juvenile dermatomyositis (DM) may have etiologic and clinical implications. The aim of this study was to describe autoantibodies to a 140-kd protein in children recruited to the Juvenile DM National Registry and Repository for UK and Ireland. METHODS Clinical data and sera were collected from children with juvenile myositis. Sera that re...