ABSTRACT
While substantial progress has been made in understanding the dysfunction of immune responses during the course of autoimmune diseases, little progress has been made in determining the factors that contribute to the onset of disease. However, several factors have been associated with the development of autoimmune diseases in animals and humans. These include host susceptibility due to genetic factors, dysregulation of the immune responses in the autoimmune disease, and initiation by an environmental insult such as an infectious microorganism (1) as described below. Immune dysregulation by infectious microorganisms may involve polyclonal activation, direct infection of lymphoid cells, alteration of the idiotype-anti-idiotype network or molecular mimicry. Figure 1 illustrates the parameters involved in the development of autoimmune disease.
