[The molecular aspects of the immunopathology in rheumatic diseases]

In this paper, low-molecular immunosuppressive lymphopeptide of molecular weight ranging from 300 to 500 daltons and anti-DNA autoantibodies have been shown to play a role in the formation of immunosuppression and development of secondary immunodeficiency states in patients with diffuse involvement of connective tissue, as evidenced by the analysis of the clinical and experimental studies. A concept of enzyme immunodeficiency in the pathogenesis of rheumatological diseases is documented. Special emphasis is put on the unsolved issues relative to this problem.