title: Viruses as triggers of autoimmunity: facts and fantasies.
abstract: Autoimmunity has been proposed as the cause of several human chronic inflammatory diseases, and recent animal studies show that viruses can induce autoimmune disease. These studies demonstrate how viruses might misdirect the immune system, and here we discuss critically the evidence that similar phenomena may lead to human disease.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuropharmacology, CVN-9, The Scripps Research Institute, 10550 N Torrey Pines Rd, La Jolla, CA 92037, USA. lwhitton@scripps.edu
authors.forename: J L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Whitton
authors.forename: R S
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Fujinami
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001327:Autoimmune Diseases / Q000276:immunology / Q000821:virology*; D015551:Autoimmunity; D006801:Humans; D014777:Virus Diseases / Q000276:immunology*; D014780:Viruses / Q000276:immunology*