An autoimmune disease is a condition in which the immune system mistakenly attacks the body. Are there any scientific reasons explaining why the body acts abnormally in this way and are there any special treatments for these diseases?
Hello
these links will help you
http://www.childrenshospital.org/conditions-and-treatments/conditions/autoimmune-diseases/symptoms-and-causes
https://www.amymyersmd.com/2017/01/understanding-true-cause-autoimmune-disease/
https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/medicine-and-dentistry/autoimmune-disease
Good Luck
Autoimmune disease occurs by the body producing autoantibodies. There is no cure yet but the progress of the disease can be controlled and the pain. Drugs used to treat these conditions include: nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) such as ibuprofen (Motrin, Advil) and naproxen (Naprosyn) immune-suppressing drugs. Treatment often requires daily oral prednisone, a steroid that reduces immune system function. Supplements to replace a substance that the body lacks, such as thyroid hormone, vitamin B12, or insulin, due to the autoimmune disease. Blood transfusions if blood is affected. Physical therapy to help with movement if the bones, joints, or muscles are affected. Recent advances suggest that maintaining a balance of effector and regulatory immune function is critical for avoiding autoimmunity. New therapies, including costimulation blockade, regulatory T cell therapy.
My understanding is that autoimmunity occurs when a positive feedback loop arises within the B cell compartment that overrides T cell control. Positive feedback is to be expected in B cells because antibody production needs to be a chain reaction. Positive feedback is normally blocked for self antigens but there are a variety of reasons why a feedback loop for self antigens might arise - different for each antigen. In each case a specific subversive signalling mechanism is implicated. My viewpoint is published in an article in Immunology 1999, Edwards JCW, Cambridge G and Abrahams V. It should come up on Pubmed or Google easily. It was this viewpoint that led us to introduce rituximab to deplete B cells in non-haematologic disease - initially rheumatoid and lupus and then other conditions. Rituximab is highly effective in many autoimmune conditions but fails if autoantibody producing plasma cell clones are too long lived or permanent tissue destruction has already occurred.
In a nutshell, autoimmunity arises from abnormal immune cells that fail to recognize self antigens (loss of immune tolerance). Wikipedia has a really nice page on this (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autoimmunity).
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