[Infectious agents as the triggers for the pathogenesis of the neuroimmunological disorders]

The development of the neuroimmunological disorders is regulated by the environmental factors in connection with the genetic predisposition. Of the environmental factors, infectious agents play a crucial role as the triggers for the pathogenesis of these disorders. Although specific infectious agents are identified in only HTLV-I-associated myelopathy/tropical spastic paraparesis (HAM/TSP) and some parts of Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS), both the epidemiological and the experimental evidences with regard to infectious agents as the triggers are accumulated even in another disorders, such as multiple sclerosis (MS) and inflammatory myopathies (IM). Several hypotheses, such as bystander mechanism and molecular mimicry of some neuromuscular components, are proposed in the pathogenesis of these diseases. We, herein, discuss about the relationship between infectious agents and these diseases.