Full Description
Recent developments in basic science and clinical rheumatology make it appropriate at this time to create a volume devoted to the immunology of rheumatic diseases. The impact of molecular biology, gene cloning, and new technologies for establishing hybridomas and T-cell lines in the laboratory is now beginning to be felt in clinical medicine. There is a general air of excitement and a feeling that we stand on the threshold of a new era in molecular medicine and clinical science. It is this excitement that we have tried to capture in this book. This volume is divided into five sections entitled Basic Mechanisms, Autoimmunity, Classical Concepts of Rheumatic Diseases, Pathogenetic Mechanisms, and Therapy. This is not an arbitrary arrangement but represents our belief that from an understanding of basic mechanisms of disease pathogenesis will come new and more successful forms of treatment for the sufferers of rheumatic disorders. We have tried in the selection of authors to choose internationally recognized experts who have both a scientific and a clinical orientation to their subjects. We believe the marriage of clinical and basic disciplines represents the best hope for rapid knowledge transfer from the laboratory to the clinic, where such knowledge can be used to improve patient health.
Contents
I. Basic Mechanisms.- 1. Human Immune Response Genes.- 2. Lymphocyte Subpopulations: Phenotypic Expression and Functions in Health and Rheumatic Diseases.- 3. The Autologous Mixed Lymphocyte Reaction.- 4. Interleukins: Molecular and Biological Characteristics.- 5. Interferon and Natural Killer Cells in Rheumatic Diseases.- II. Autoimmunity.- 6. Rheumatoid Factor.- 7. Autoantibodies to Nonhistone Nuclear Antigens: Their Immunobiology and Clinical Relevance.- 8. Antibodies to DNA: Epiphenomena or Pathogens?.- 9. Neuron-Reactive Antibodies in Systemic Lupus Erythematosus.- 10. Antiphospholipid Antibodies.- 11. The Heterogeneity of Autoimmune Responses.- 12. Immune Response to Collagen.- III. Classical Concepts of Rheumatic Diseases.- 13. Immune Response to Streptococcal Antigens in Rheumatic Fever.- 14. Infectious Agents in Rheumatic Diseases.- 15. Scleroderma as a Fibrotic Disorder.- 16. Gout.- 17. Vasculitis.- 18. Immune Complexes in Human and Experimental Disease.- IV. Pathogenetic Mechanisms.- 19. Cellular Immune Events in the Joints of Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis.- 20. Macrophages and Dendritic Cells in Rheumatic Diseases.- 21. Complement Components in Rheumatic Diseases.- 22. Immune Complexes, Vasoactive Mediators, and Fibrinoid Necrosis in Connective Tissue Diseases.- 23. The Role of the Neutrophil in the Inflammatory Response.- 24. Drug-Related Rheumatic Diseases: Basic Mechanisms.- 25. Psychoneuroimmunologic Contributions to the Study of Rheumatic Diseases.- V. Therapy.- 26. Immunopotentiators and Rheumatic Diseases.- 27. Thymic Hormones and Rheumatoid Arthritis.- 28. Plasmapheresis.- 29. Immunoregulatory Drugs.- 30. Total Lymphoid Irradiation.
