Autoimmunity - an Introduction
Autoimmune Diseases I
In multiple sclerosis, nerve cells and their sheathing are massively damaged and then destroyed by attacking self-destructive T cells. This results in neurological deficits like impaired vision, paraesthesia, spastic tonicity and paralysis.
- Fig.1
- A healthy nerve cell with intact myelin sheath
- Fig.2
- Auto reactive macrophages attack the myelin sheath of a nerve cell in multiple sclerosis
In type 1 diabetes, the body forms antibodies against the insulin-producing islet cells in the pancreas, and in vasculitis; an autoimmune process is responsible for a life-threatening inflammation of the blood vessel walls.
- Fig.3
- Symptoms of Wegener's disease, an autoimmune inflammation of small blood vessels
