Autoimmune Diseases and Treatment

Only in very recent times have therapies been developed that are specific to a particular manifestation of autoimmune disease, and these have begun to replace the all-purpose remedies of the past 30 years. This volume, which draws on the principles of immunology presented in Volume 1050 (Autoimmunity: Concepts and Diagnosis at the Cutting Edge), extends these concepts to the realm of clinical findings and current therapy for many autoimmune and connective tissue disorders.

Both organ-specific and organ-nonspecific diseases are covered, and one section is entirely focused on treatment. Treatments using cytokines, chemokines, cognate receptors, and genetic interactions are particularly prominent in these reports, and attention is also paid to the increasing use of intravenous imunoglobulins and both monoclonal and imunosuppressive agents. A therapeutic void remains, but the work reported on here contributes considerably to the effort to fill that void.

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