An immune-mediated inflammatory disease (IMID) is any of a group of conditions or diseases that lack a definitive
etiology, but which are characterized by common inflammatory pathways leading to
inflammation
Inflammation (from la, inflammatio) is part of the complex biological response of body tissues to harmful stimuli, such as pathogens, damaged cells, or irritants, and is a protective response involving immune cells, blood vessels, and molec ...
, and which may result from, or be triggered by, a
dysregulation of the normal
immune response
An immune response is a reaction which occurs within an organism for the purpose of defending against foreign invaders. These invaders include a wide variety of different microorganisms including viruses, bacteria, parasites, and fungi which could ...
. All IMIDs can cause
end organ damage, and are associated with increased
morbidity
A disease is a particular abnormal condition that negatively affects the structure or function of all or part of an organism, and that is not immediately due to any external injury. Diseases are often known to be medical conditions that a ...
and/or
mortality.
Inflammation is an important and growing area of
biomedical research and
health care because inflammation mediates and is the primary driver of many medical disorders and
autoimmune diseases, including
ankylosing spondylitis
Ankylosing spondylitis (AS) is a type of arthritis characterized by long-term inflammation of the joints of the spine typically where the spine joins the pelvis. Occasionally areas affected may include other joints such as the shoulders or hi ...
,
psoriasis
Psoriasis is a long-lasting, noncontagious autoimmune disease characterized by raised areas of abnormal skin. These areas are red, pink, or purple, dry, itchy, and scaly. Psoriasis varies in severity from small, localized patches to complete ...
,
psoriatic arthritis
Psoriatic arthritis is a long-term inflammatory arthritis that occurs in people affected by the autoimmune disease psoriasis. The classic feature of psoriatic arthritis is swelling of entire fingers and toes with a sausage-like appearance. Th ...
,
Behçet's disease
Behçet's disease (BD) is a type of inflammatory disorder which affects multiple parts of the body. The most common symptoms include painful sores on the mucous membranes of the mouth and other parts of the body, inflammation of parts of the ey ...
,
arthritis,
inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), and
allergy
Allergies, also known as allergic diseases, refer a number of conditions caused by the hypersensitivity of the immune system to typically harmless substances in the environment. These diseases include hay fever, food allergies, atopic derm ...
, as well as many
cardiovascular
The blood circulatory system is a system of organs that includes the heart, blood vessels, and blood which is circulated throughout the entire body of a human or other vertebrate. It includes the cardiovascular system, or vascular system, tha ...
,
neuromuscular
A neuromuscular junction (or myoneural junction) is a chemical synapse between a motor neuron and a muscle fiber.
It allows the motor neuron to transmit a signal to the muscle fiber, causing muscle contraction.
Muscles require innervation ...
, and
infectious disease
An infection is the invasion of tissues by pathogens, their multiplication, and the reaction of host tissues to the infectious agent and the toxins they produce. An infectious disease, also known as a transmissible disease or communicable di ...
s. Some current research even suggests that
aging is a consequence, in part, of inflammatory processes.
Characterization
IMID is characterized by
immune disregulation, and one underlying manifestation of this immune disregulation is the inappropriate activation of inflammatory
cytokines, such as
IL-12,
IL-6 or
TNF alpha
Tumor necrosis factor (TNF, cachexin, or cachectin; formerly known as tumor necrosis factor alpha or TNF-α) is an adipokine and a cytokine. TNF is a member of the TNF superfamily, which consists of various transmembrane proteins with a homolog ...
, whose actions lead to
pathological
Pathology is the study of the causes and effects of disease or injury. The word ''pathology'' also refers to the study of disease in general, incorporating a wide range of biology research fields and medical practices. However, when used in th ...
consequences.
See also
*
Immune mediated polygenic arthritis
Bibliography
* Shurin, Michael R. and Yuri S. Smolkin (editors). ''Immune Mediated Diseases: From Theory to Therapy'' (Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology). Springer, 2007.
References
idid.us: immune mediated inflammatory diseases, inflammatory diseases of immune dysregulation{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180308114047/http://www.idid.us/ , date=2018-03-08
Cause (medicine)
Inflammations
Immune system disorders