Sjögren syndrome or Sjögren's syndrome is a long-term autoimmune disease that affects the body's moisture-producing glands, and often seriously affects other organ systems, such as the lungs, kidneys, and nervous system.
In immunology, autoimmunity is the system of immune responses of an organism against its own healthy cells, tissues and other normal body constituents. Any disease resulting from this type of immune response is termed an "autoimmune disease". Prominent examples include celiac disease, diabetes mellitus type 1, Henoch–Schönlein purpura, systemic lupus erythematosus, Sjögren syndrome, eosinophilic granulomatosis with polyangiitis, Hashimoto's thyroiditis, Graves' disease, idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura, Addison's disease, rheumatoid arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, polymyositis, dermatomyositis, and multiple sclerosis. Autoimmune diseases are very often treated with steroids.
Rheumatology is a branch of medicine devoted to the diagnosis and management of disorders whose common feature is inflammation in the bones, muscles, joints, and internal organs. Rheumatology covers more than 100 different complex diseases, collectively known as rheumatic diseases, which includes many forms of arthritis as well as lupus and Sjögren's syndrome. Doctors who have undergone formal training in rheumatology are called rheumatologists.
The National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS) is one of the institutes and centers that make up the National Institutes of Health, an agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
A connective tissue disease is a disease which involves damage to, or destruction of, any type of connective tissue in the body. Depending on the specific disease, the affected tissue(s) may be a single specific type, a group of several related tissues, or a wide variety of unrelated types of connective tissue. Some of the most common connective tissue diseases involve injury to collagen and elastin as a result of inflammation. Many connective tissue diseases are strongly connected to autoimmune disease processes.
Childhood arthritis is an umbrella term used to describe any rheumatic disease or chronic arthritis-related condition which affects individuals under the age of 16. Most types are autoimmune disorders.
Signal transducer and activator of transcription 4 (STAT4) is a transcription factor belonging to the STAT protein family, composed of STAT1, STAT2, STAT3, STAT4, STAT5A, STAT5B, STAT6. STAT proteins are key activators of gene transcription which bind to DNA in response to cytokine gradient. STAT proteins are a common part of Janus kinase (JAK)- signalling pathways, activated by cytokines.STAT4 is required for the development of Th1 cells from naive CD4+ T cells and IFN-γ production in response to IL-12. There are two known STAT4 transcripts, STAT4α and STAT4β, differing in the levels of interferon-gamma production downstream.
Scleromyositis, is an autoimmune disease. People with scleromyositis have symptoms of both systemic scleroderma and either polymyositis or dermatomyositis, and is therefore considered an overlap syndrome. Although it is a rare disease, it is one of the more common overlap syndromes seen in scleroderma patients, together with MCTD and Antisynthetase syndrome. Autoantibodies often found in these patients are the anti-PM/Scl (anti-exosome) antibodies.
An autoimmune disease is a condition that results from an anomalous response of the adaptive immune system, wherein it mistakenly targets and attacks healthy, functioning parts of the body as if they were foreign organisms. It is estimated that there are more than 80 recognized autoimmune diseases, with recent scientific evidence suggesting the existence of potentially more than 100 distinct conditions. Nearly any body part can be involved.
Lupus, technically known as systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), is an autoimmune disease in which the body's immune system mistakenly attacks healthy tissue in many parts of the body. Symptoms vary among people and may be mild to severe. Common symptoms include painful and swollen joints, fever, chest pain, hair loss, mouth ulcers, swollen lymph nodes, feeling tired, and a red rash which is most commonly on the face. Often there are periods of illness, called flares, and periods of remission during which there are few symptoms.
Scleroderma is a group of autoimmune diseases that may result in changes to the skin, blood vessels, muscles, and internal organs. The disease can be either localized to the skin or involve other organs, as well. Symptoms may include areas of thickened skin, stiffness, feeling tired, and poor blood flow to the fingers or toes with cold exposure. One form of the condition, known as CREST syndrome, classically results in calcium deposits, Raynaud's syndrome, esophageal problems, thickening of the skin of the fingers and toes, and areas of small, dilated blood vessels.
Autoimmunity is an international, peer-reviewed medical journal that covers the pathogenesis, immunology, genetics, and molecular biology of immune and autoimmune responses. In addition, the journal focuses on the autoimmune processes associated with systemic lupus erythematosus, rheumatoid arthritis, Sjögren syndrome, diabetes, multiple sclerosis, and other systemic and organ-specific autoimmune diseases.
Lupus vasculitis is one of the secondary vasculitides that occurs in approximately 50% of patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE).
Robert George Lahita is an American physician, internist and rheumatologist, best known for his research into systemic lupus erythematosus. and other autoimmune diseases. He is the author of more than 16 books and 150 scientific publications in the field of autoimmunity and immuno-endocrinology and a media consultant on health-related issues. He currently serves as Director of the Institute of Autoimmune and Rheumatic Diseases at St. Joseph's Healthcare System, specializing in autoimmunity, rheumatology, and treatment of diseases of joints, muscle, bones and tendons including arthritis, back pain, muscle strains, common athletic injuries and collagen diseases.
George C. Tsokos is an American immunologist who is a professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and is the chief at Division of Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center; Boston, MA.
Maria Virginia Pascual is a Spanish-American pediatric rheumatologist.
Autoinflammatory diseases (AIDs) are a group of rare disorders caused by dysfunction of the innate immune system. These responses are characterized by periodic or chronic systemic inflammation, usually without the involvement of adaptive immunity.
Lindsey A. Criswell is an American rheumatologist and physician-scientist. She is director of the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases. Criswell was vice chancellor of research at University of California, San Francisco where she held the Jean S. Engleman Distinguished Professorship in Rheumatology.
Epigenetics of autoimmune disorders is the role that epigenetics play in autoimmune diseases. Autoimmune disorders are a diverse class of diseases that share a common origin. These diseases originate when the immune system becomes dysregulated and mistakenly attacks healthy tissue rather than foreign invaders. These diseases are classified as either local or systemic based upon whether they affect a single body system or if they cause systemic damage.
Robert H. Carter is an American rheumatologist and physician-scientist serving as the deputy director of the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS) since 2008. He was the acting director of NIAMS from December 2018 until February 2021.
