Wallach's Interpretation of Diagnostic Tests: Pathways to Arriving at a Clinical Diagnosis (6 page)

   Loss of regulatory T cells

   Defects in cytokine production

   
ORGAN-SPECIFIC AUTOIMMUNE DISEASES

Organ-specific autoimmune diseases involve a particular organ or tissue of the body in which the target autoantigen is found. Examples of these autoimmune diseases and their target organs:

   Adrenal glands (e.g., autoimmune adrenal insufficiency). See Chapter
6
, Endocrine Diseases

   Bile ducts (e.g., primary biliary cirrhosis). See Chapter
5
, Digestive Diseases

   Blood cells: RBC (e.g., autoimmune hemolytic anemia), WBC (e.g., autoimmune neutropenia), platelets (e.g., immune thrombocytopenic purpura). See Chapter
9
, Hematologic Disorders

   Blood vessels (e.g., autoimmune vasculitis). Discussed in this Chapter and in Chapter
3
, Cardiovascular Disorders

   Gastrointestinal tract (e.g., celiac disease, Crohn disease, ulcerative colitis). See Chapter
5
, Digestive Diseases

   Kidney (e.g., anti–glomerular basement membrane antibody disease). See Chapter
12
, Renal Disorders

   Liver (e.g., autoimmune hepatitis). See Chapter
5
, Digestive Diseases

   Nervous system (e.g., myasthenia gravis [a disorder of the neuromuscular junction], multiple sclerosis, Guillain-Barré Syndrome, autoimmune autonomic failure). See Chapter
4
, Central Nervous System Disorders

   Pancreas: type 1 diabetes mellitus (see Chapter
6
, Endocrine Diseases), autoimmune pancreatitis (see Chapter
5
, Digestive Diseases)

   Thyroid gland (e.g., Hashimoto thyroiditis, Graves disease). See Chapter
6
, Endocrine Diseases