ABSTRACT
This chapter describes conditions that affect the oral tissues specifically (eg: periodontitis), conditions affecting several mucosal sites and often the skin (eg: pemphigoid) and the salivary manifestations of a polysystemic disease (Sjögren’s syndrome). The characteristic clinical features of the syndromes are pres ented to provide a perspective for scientists rather than as a medical text. Our aim is to summarize the current thinking with regards autoantigens and pathogenic mechanisms, in the hope that this may facilitate the development of unifying hypotheses. Conditions were selected for their common occurrence and/or interesting pathogenesis.
