Gleichmann E, Kimber I, Purchase I F
Division of Immunology, Heinrich Heine University of Düsseldorf, Federal Republic of Germany.
Arch Toxicol. 1989;63(4):257-73. doi: 10.1007/BF00278639.
The fundamental characteristic of the adaptive immune system which has evolved in the vertebrates is the ability to recognise, and subsequently destroy, "foreign", and potentially harmful, antigens. The selective advantage which the immune system confers is the capacity to resist infectious, and possibly malignant, disease. It has been apparent for many years that individuals in whom immune function is impaired, due either to a congenital defect or to other factors such as treatment with certain immunosuppressive drugs, exhibit an increased susceptibility to infection and, in some cases, an elevated risk of developing at least some forms of malignancy. There is an increasing awareness from rodent studies that a variety of drugs and environmental chemicals have the potential to unintentionally impair components of the immune system. Risk assessment, based upon data from chemically induced changes in one or more parameters of immune function, is, however, dependent upon a knowledge of the functional reserve of the immune system. One of the objectives of the meeting from which this report derives was to examine what sources of information are available, and what experimental protocols can be employed, to permit accurate evaluation of immunological reserve. Although, under normal circumstances, the immune system selectively and specifically recognises foreign antigen, it is clear that the potential to recognise "self" is present and that in certain circumstances this potential is realised. Antibodies directed against normal tissue antigens have been shown to be associated with, and in some instances the presumptive cause of, "autoimmune" disease. There is a growing list of drugs and chemicals which are capable of eliciting autoantibodies and pathological autoimmune reactions. A second purpose of this meeting and of this report was to review the current state of knowledge regarding drug- and chemical-induced autoimmunity.
适应性免疫系统在脊椎动物中进化出的基本特征是识别并随后摧毁“外来的”、可能有害的抗原的能力。免疫系统赋予的选择性优势是抵抗感染性疾病以及可能的恶性疾病的能力。多年来已经很明显，由于先天性缺陷或其他因素（如使用某些免疫抑制药物进行治疗）导致免疫功能受损的个体，更容易受到感染，并且在某些情况下，患至少某些形式恶性肿瘤的风险也会增加。越来越多的啮齿动物研究表明，多种药物和环境化学物质有可能无意中损害免疫系统的组成部分。然而，基于化学诱导的免疫功能一个或多个参数变化的数据进行风险评估，依赖于对免疫系统功能储备的了解。本报告所源自的会议的目标之一是研究有哪些可用的信息来源以及可以采用哪些实验方案，以准确评估免疫储备。尽管在正常情况下，免疫系统会选择性地、特异性地识别外来抗原，但很明显识别“自身”的潜力是存在的，并且在某些情况下这种潜力会得以实现。针对正常组织抗原的抗体已被证明与“自身免疫性”疾病有关，在某些情况下还是这种疾病的推测病因。能够引发自身抗体和病理性自身免疫反应的药物和化学物质越来越多。本次会议以及本报告的第二个目的是回顾关于药物和化学物质诱导的自身免疫性的当前知识状态。
