Autoimmunity

Introduction
Immune system defends the body against infections and
other diseases by:
1. Identifying
2. Attacking
3. Destroying
the infectious agent or any other foreign body that
may cause harm to the body.
Overview
Factors on which immunological mechanism depends
There are major factors on which immunological
mechanism of the body is dependent:
1. Inactivation of the foreign substances
2. Ability to differentiate between body’s own antigen
(self) and foreign one (non-self)
Autoimmunity
Some times immune system mistakenly starts attacking
the body’s own tissues or organs which results in:
1. Hypersensitivity
2. Autoimmune diseases
About 7-8% adults suffer from autoimmune diseases
2/3 of which are females
Autoimmunity
It refers to the body’s development of intolerance of the
antigens or its own cells.
This type of body response results in disease state
characterized by specific antibody or cell mediated
immune response against the body's own tissues.
It is a breakdown of the mechanism responsible for self
tolerance and induction of the immune response against
components of the self.
Tolerance
 Antigens that are present in embryonic life are
considered as self.
 Antigens that are encountered first when body is
immunologically mature, are known as Non Self.
 B and T cells both participate in tolerance but T cell
tolerance plays important role
Tolerance
Normally immune repose does not occur against own
tissue because of Tolerance to Self Antigen which is
acquired by different mechanisms:
1. Clone deletion theory
2. Clonal inactivation
Mechanism