Infection and autoimmunity

Introduction -- Infections and autoimmune diseases : an interplay of pathogenic and protective links -- Molecular mimicry and autoimmunity -- Epitope spreading in autoimmune diseases -- CD5-expressing B-1 cells and infection -- T cells and autoimmunity -- Lymphocytes and infection in autoimmune diseases -- Endothelial cell autoreactivity and infection -- Microbiota and autoimmunity -- Infection, autoimmunity, and vitamin D -- Seasonality and autoimmunity -- The protective role of helminths in autoimmunity -- Vaccination and autoimmunity -- BCG vaccination -- Opportunistic infections and autoimmune diseases -- Can antibiotics cure autoimmune diseases? -- Anti-viral therapy, Eepstein-Bbarr virus, autoimmunity, and chaos (the butterfly effect) -- Roles for cytomegalovirus in infection, inflammation, and autoimmunity -- Hepatitis C and mixed cryoglobulinemia : an update -- HIVspectrum and autoimmune diseases -- Parvovirus infection and its association with autoimmune diseases -- Human T-lymphotropic virus type 1 and rheumatic diseases : a link between infection and autoimmunity -- Sjoagren's syndrome : role of viruses and viral-like sequences -- Viral infection and heart disease : autoimmune mechanisms -- Celiac disease and rotavirus infection -- Theiler's murine encephalomyelitis virus-induced demyelinating disease (TMEV-IDD) and autoimmunity -- Rheumatic fever : how streptococcal throat infection triggers an autoimmune disease -- Helicobacter pylori infection and gastric autoimmunity : coincidence or a cause and effect relationship? -- Multiple sclerosis and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease are autoimmune diseases probably caused by exposure to the nasal microbe acinetobacter -- Infection and autoimmunity in antibiotic-refractory Lyme arthritis -- Streptococcus pneumoniae and autoimmunity : a systematic review of the literature: how pneumococcal infection might be related to rheumatic diseases -- Mycobacteria and autoimmunity -- Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis and human disease : bridging infection and autoimmunity -- Leprosy and autoimmunity -- Screening strategies for the identification of latent tuberculosis -- Parasitic infection and autoimmunity -- Toxoplasma and autoimmunity -- Malaria and systemic lupus erythematosus : complex interactions and reciprocal influences -- Anti- saccharomyces cerevisiae antibodies autoimmune diseases -- The infectious origin of the anti-phospholipid syndrome -- Infections and systemic lupus erythematosus -- Infections and idiopathic inflammatory myopathies -- Rheumatoid arthritis and infections : more than an association? -- Infection and systemic sclerosis -- Infection and spondyloarthropathies -- Infection and Behcet disease -- Vasculitides and hepatitis c infection -- The role of infection in inflammatory bowel disease : initiation, exacerbation and protection -- Post-infectious arthritis and reactive arthritis -- Nonnutritional environmental factors associated with celiac disease : the infectome -- Infection and autoimmune liver diseases -- Acute and chronic infections : their role in immune thrombocytopenia -- Viral infections and type 1 diabetes -- Infection and autoimmune thyroid diseases -- Pemphigus and infection -- Infections and autoimmune renal diseases -- Infections associated with retinal autoimmunity -- Oral infections and autoimmune diseases -- Infections as a cause of Guillain-Barreü syndrome -- Acute disseminated encephalomyelitis -- Narcolepsy, infections, and autoimmunity.

Autoimmune diseases are conditions where the immune system attacks the body organs instead of foreign invaders. This book deals with the various mechanisms by which infectious agents can trigger autoimmunity such as molecular mimicry and polyclonal activation. An overview is given with regard to bacteria, viruses, and parasites associated with autoimmunity, and a summary is given on classical autoimmune diseases and the infecting agents that can induce them.