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How do autoimmune reactions lead to chronic inflammation?
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A doctor examining chest X-rays of patients infected with tuberculosis, which remains one of the world's deadliest diseases.
In autoimmune reactions, chronic inflammation occurs because the immune system becomes sensitized to normal components of the body, treating them as foreign antigens. Because these self-antigens cannot be eliminated, the immune response persists, leading to a state of ongoing inflammation.21
The process typically involves several mechanisms:
- Immune Complex Deposition: Antibodies bind to self-antigens, forming immune complexes that deposit in tissues (such as the synovial membranes in rheumatoid arthritis). These deposits trigger hypersensitivity reactions, activating complement and attracting inflammatory cells.34
- Cellular Infiltration: The body continuously recruits macrophages, lymphocytes, and plasma cells to the site of the reaction via chemotactic factors.2
- Tissue Damage: Macrophages, which are central to this process, release substances that cause progressive tissue damage and functional impairment. In conditions like rheumatoid arthritis, recruited granulocytes release enzymes that degrade cartilage and collagen.23
- Sustained Recruitment: Ongoing recruitment of immune cells, including monocytes, sustains the inflammatory cycle and prevents the healing process, resulting in chronic disease.25