Is there a Doctor in the house?
Since I am not a Rheumatologist (but I do suffer from Rheumatoid Arthritis), nor do I speak the language of studies, I'd like some feedback on the structure and findings of this study please.
If you aren't a doctor or medically trained feel free to chime in.
Self-Organized Criticality Theory of Autoimmunity
http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0008382
Methodology/Principal Findings
Repeated immunization with antigen causes systemic autoimmunity in mice otherwise not prone to spontaneous autoimmune diseases. Overstimulation of CD4+ T cells led to the development of autoantibody-inducing CD4+ T (aiCD4+ T) cell which had undergone T cell receptor (TCR) revision and was capable of inducing autoantibodies. The aiCD4+ T cell was induced by de novo TCR revision but not by cross-reaction, and subsequently overstimulated CD8+ T cells, driving them to become antigen-specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL). These CTLs could be further matured by antigen cross-presentation, after which they caused autoimmune tissue injury akin to systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE).
Conclusions/Significance
Systemic autoimmunity appears to be the inevitable consequence of over-stimulating the host's immune ‘system’ by repeated immunization with antigen, to the levels that surpass system's self-organized criticality.
