Mycobacteria and autoimmunity
F Machado Ribeiro1, T Goldenberg2
1Department of Rheumatology, Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil franmr@terra.com.br.
Abstract:
Mycobacterial infections can cause a variety of different manifestations. The increasing incidence of these infections worldwide brought another medical dilemma: immunological manifestations characterized by the presence of many autoantibodies and concomitant presence of autoimmune diseases. The burden of tuberculosis reactivation that emerged with immunosuppressive therapy worsened with the growing use of biological disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs). This review will address the relationship between the immune system and mycobacteria.
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