Shaping the spectrum - From autoinflammation to autoimmunity

Historically, autoimmune-inflammatory disorders were subdivided into autoinflammatory vs. autoimmune diseases. About a decade ago, an immunological continuum was proposed, placing "classical" autoinflammatory disorders, characterized by systemic inflammation in the absence of high-titer autoantibodies or autoreactive T lymphocytes, at the one end, and autoimmune disorders at the other end. We provide an overview of recent developments and observations, filling in some of the gaps and showing strong interconnections between innate and adaptive immune mechanisms, indicating that disorders from both ends of the immunological spectrum indeed share key pathomechanisms. We focus on three exemplary disorders: i) systemic juvenile idiopathic arthritis representing "classical" autoinflammatory disorders; ii) psoriasis, a mixed pattern disease; and iii) systemic lupus erythematosus, a prototypical autoimmune disease. We summarize scientific observations suggesting that, depending on disease stages and/or duration, individualized treatment targeting innate or adaptive immune mechanisms in disorders from either end of the immunological spectrum may control disease activity.