ABSTRACT
While much evidence appears to support the hypothesis of AIDS being an autoimmune disease, equally impressive facts negate the theory. At most, one can presently speak only of the "autoimmune features" of this very complex syndrome. AIDS most strikingly presents with various autoantibodies including those directed against both red and white blood cells. These antibodies appear to be - at least in part - responsible for some of the autoimmune features of the disease. Several clinical and serological similarities exist between AIDS and the "classic" autoimmune disease SLE. In fact, following the isolation of HIV, researchers once again began searching for a viral etiology of SLE. It appears that while autoimmune mechanisms may explain some of the clinical and serologic manifestations of the disease, not enough evidence exists as yet to decidedly point either for or against its classification as an autoimmune disease.
Subject(s)
Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome/immunology , Autoimmunity , Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome/etiology , Autoantibodies/biosynthesis , Autoimmune Diseases/etiology , HIV/pathogenicity , Humans , Lupus Erythematosus, Systemic/etiology , Models, BiologicalABSTRACT
In various autoimmune diseases it appears that NK activity is impaired, and that this phenomenon is significant in disease development. Impairment of NK activity may be the result of two different mechanisms. In systemic autoimmune diseases, in which various target organs are involved (nonorgan-specific), the peripheral blood NK level is generally lower than normal. This most likely allows the expression of autoimmune phenomena such as B cell hyperactivity and polyclonal antibody production, as is seen in SLE, due to a defect in the termination of the immune response. In autoimmune diseases with more localized, organ-specific lesions one can detect increased NK activity at the target organ itself. In these instances, the cytotoxic characteristic of the NK cell is more prominent. This theory explains why both increased and decreased NK activity may be observed in autoimmune diseases. In some disorders in which decreased NK activity was suspected of being crucial, immunomodulators, known to increase NK activity, were administered. Yet it is still difficult to separate the NK activity from the effect of the remaining immune system.
