Inappropriately normal plasma ACTH and cortisol concentrations in the face of increased circulating interleukin-6 concentration in exercise in patients with sarcoidosis.

Sarcoidosis is an autoimmune disease, and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis activity is blunted in autoimmunity. Exercise stimulates the HPA axis, and we hypothesized that in sarcoidosis patients responses to treadmill exercise would be reduced. Hence, we studied 44 sarcoidosis patients [27 untreated (age, mean ± SD, 42 ± 2 years, 12 males, 15 females) and 17 dexamethasone treated (age, 46 ± 4 years, 7 males, 10 females)] and 20 healthy controls (40 ± 5 years old, 9 males, 11 females).

Outcomes in pediatric autoimmune hepatitis.

Autoimmune hepatitis (AIH) is a common cause of acute and chronic hepatitis in childhood. Once the diagnosis is established, treatment with cortico-steroid or corticosteroid and azathioprine is indicated. Most children with AIH respond to such therapy and experience remission from active disease.

Differential induction of experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis by myelin basic protein molecular mimics in mice humanized for HLA-DR2 and an MBP(85-99)-specific T cell receptor.

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic autoimmune neurological disease characterized by infiltration of peripheral inflammatory cells to the central nervous system (CNS) and demyelination of CNS white matter. Epidemiological evidence suggests a possible infectious trigger. One potential mechanism by which an infectious agent may trigger MS is via molecular mimicry wherein T cells generated against foreign epitopes cross-react with self-myelin epitopes, such as myelin basic protein (MBP), with sufficient sequence similarity.