AUTO IMMUNE DISORDERS In general when a foreign substance like virus, bacteria which are antigens enter, our body synthesizes certain antibodies against these antigens and stops the occurrence of disease. But autoimmune disorders are the situations where our body cannot differentiate between a healthy tissue and an antigen. So it destroys the healthy tissue which may lead to many disorders. Cause: The exact cause is still not known. But in some cases, certain drugs affect the genes and cause these autoimmune disorders. * If same part of the body has similar constitution of that of the infecting organism then body produces auto antibodies which attack its own cells. Types [2] 1. Systemic auto immune disorders: In this autoantibodies are specific for certain diseases like * Anti topoisomerase 1 in scleroderma * Anti-ribosomal P autoantibodies in systemic lupus erythematosus * Citrulline modified proteins in rheumatoid arthritis 2. Organ specific auto immune disorders: These are specific to the affected organ like * Thyroid peroxidase enzyme in thyroiditis. * Insulin and glutamic acid decarboxylase autoantibodies in type 1 diabetes mellitus. * Anti-mitochondrial autoantibody in primary bilary cirrhosis. Detection: These auto immune diseases can be detected by * Immuno diffusion * Immunoblotting techniques * Immunoflorescence * Enzyme immuno assays * Flow cytometry Organs affected:[1] They mainly affect blood vessels, digestive tract, eyes, glands, joints, heart, kidney, lungs, nerves and skin. Disorders affecting blood vessels: Wegener's granulomatosis : Inflammation in the blood vessels (vasculitis) => retarded blood flow. Disorders affecting digestive tract: Scleroderma: Abnormal growth of connective tissue and skin become progressively thick and hard => inflammation in muscles. Disorders affecting eyes: Sjorgens syndrome: Swollen salivary glands and dry mouth and dry eyes (sicca syndrome) =>Immune system attacks the tissue which is present in moisture producing glands. Disorders affecting joints: Rheumatoid arthritis: Inflammation of the synovial membrane and joint => abnormal immune response results in inflammation of synovium. Disorders affecting lungs: Good Pasteur syndrome: Glomerulonephritis and hemorrhage of lungs=> Immune system attacks good pasture antigen found in the kidneys and lungs. Disorders affecting nerves: Gullian Barre Syndrome: Inflammation due to the damage of myelin sheaths surrounding axons => Immune system attacks its own nervous system References:1. http://diseases.emedtv.com/autoimmune-diseases/types-of-autoimmune-disea... accessed on 9th May 2011 2. http://www.biochemia-medica.com/content/ilza-salamunic-laboratory-diagno... accessed on 9th May 2011 "This blog has no plagirised information"