The ultimate objective of biomedical research is to gain new understanding of the mechanisms of disease such that advances in treatment, and ultimately prevention and cure, are applied to that disease.
Experimental Approaches to the
Study of Autoimmune Rheumatic Diseases
INTRODUCTION
The ultimate objective of biomedical research is to gain new
understanding of the mechanisms of disease such that advances in treatment, and
ultimately prevention and cure, are applied to that disease. However,
progress is complicated by the inherent heterogeneity of human popu-lations,
even among those diagnosed with a particular disease. Even when appropriate
study populations can be defined, access to the most relevant tissues and
respect for patient privacy and autonomy present challenges to unfettered
human-subject research. Although recent large-scale genomewide association
studies in patients with systemic autoimmune diseases have identified candidate
disease susceptibility genes, in vitro systems and experimental models are
required to characterize the immunopathogenic significance of those genes and
their products. Once targets for potential new therapies are identified,
initial testing for toxicities of those therapeu-tics in humans is rarely
appropriate. These limitations are among those that have led investigators to
identify and to develop useful animal models that closely mimic human disease.
Such models have been a particular focus of research relevant to the autoimmune
rheumatic diseases. Although the use of animal models will always be limited by
the likelihood of genetic and molecular distinctions between humans and lower
mammals, current data from the analysis of the genomes of mice and man,
including study of disease susceptibility loci, indicate that important hints
regard-ing disease mechanisms can be gleaned from study of animal models.
Study Material, Lecturing Notes, Assignment, Reference, Wiki description explanation, brief detail
Essential Clinical Immunology: Experimental Approaches to the Study of Autoimmune Rheumatic Diseases : Experimental Approaches to the Study of Autoimmune Rheumatic Diseases |