Tuyển tập các báo cáo nghiên cứu về y học được đăng trên tạp chí y học General Psychiatry cung cấp cho các bạn kiến thức về ngành y đề tài: Developments in the scientific understanding of lupus. | Available online http content 10 5 218 Review Developments in the scientific understanding of lupus Stacy P Ardoin1 and David S Pisetsky2 1 Departments of Pediatrics and Medicine Duke University Medical Center 2301 Erwin Road Durham NC 27710 USA 2Medical Research Service Durham VA Hospital Durham North Carolina 508 Fulton Street Durham NC 27705 USA Corresponding author Stacy Payne Ardoin Published 10 October 2008 This article is online at http content 10 5 218 2008 BioMed Central Ltd Arthritis Research Therapy 2008 10 218 doi ar2488 Abstract Systemic lupus erythematosus is a systemic autoimmune disease characterized by the production of antinuclear antibodies ANAs . Recent research into human and murine lupus suggests that disease susceptibility results from genetic polymorphisms regulating immune responses as well as impairing the clearance of apop-totic cells. Because the products of dead cells including nucleic acids have immunologic activity this situation can promote antigen-driven ANA responses. Furthermore immune complexes of ANAs can drive the production of proinflammatory cytokines inducing the interferon signature and intensifying disease. Together these findings point to new genetic and immunologic markers of disease as well as targets for new therapies. Introduction Systemic lupus erythematosus SLE is a prototypic autoimmune disease that is characterized by the production of antibodies to nuclear molecules in association with clinical manifestations of fluctuating intensity and severity. This disease primarily affects young women and occurs with variable frequency in racial and ethnic groups. Furthermore although SLE has a strong genetic component its occurrence is sporadic in families and concordance is incomplete even among identical twins. Together these observations have suggested that the etiology of SLE has genetic and environmental components with female sex strongly .
