Infections as Triggers of Autoimmunity
A special issue of International Journal of Molecular Sciences (ISSN 1422-0067). This special issue belongs to the section "Molecular Microbiology".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 October 2021) | Viewed by 13991
Special Issue Editor
Interests: autoimmunity; autoimmune diseases; diet; immunosuppression; immunoregulation; microbiome; nutrition; rheumatic diseases
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
A wealth of data over the years has led researchers to suspect that autoimmune diseases could be triggered or caused by infectious agents. This has led authorities in the filed such as Yehuda Shoenfeld and Noel Rose to suggest that ‘autoimmune diseases are infectious until proven otherwise’. Infections, in particular viruses, but also bacteria and other infectious pathogens, can cause autoimmunity through different mechanisms including direct tissue damage and exposure to self-cryptic antigens; ‘bystander activation’, molecular mimicry, and epitope spreading are few of the various mechanisms an infectious agent can adopt or use to induce infection.
Epidemiological evidence in support of a causal link between particular infections and specific autoimmune diseases, such as multiple sclerosis, insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus, autoimmune rheumatic diseases, autoimmune liver disorders, and others has been provided. Immunological studies showing that antibodies or cellular responses against foreign pathogens may elicit autoimmune responses manifested as autoantibody or T-cell responses against disease-specific autoantigens have been provided in human and animal studies. Furthermore, several animal models of autoimmune diseases have replicated data, which document the induction of autoimmune diseases following infection with specific pathogens, especially in susceptible animals. In recent years, a lot of attention has been given to the decisive role played by the microbiome in shaping a state of dysbiosis, which is imperative for the loss of immunological breakdown and the development of autoimmune diseases.
This Special Issue is open to articles that discuss all aspects related to the link between infection and autoimmunity.
Prof. Dr. Dimitrios P. Bogdanos
Guest Editor
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Keywords
- autoimmunity
- autoimmune disease
- virus
- infection
- molecular mimicry
- microbiome
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