Hematopoietic cell transplants in autoimmunity.
Approximately 1 in 31 people suffers from an autoimmune disease. The clinical care of patients with autoimmunity crosses multiple disciplines within pediatrics and internal medicine, including, forexample, allergy-clinical immunology, rheumatology, nephrology, hematology, pulmonology and neurology. There are two major areas that are considered in the analysis of autoimmunity in human patients. The first of course is etiology and the second, and of even greater importance, is therapy. Towards that end, considerable attention has focused on the role of hematopoietic stem cell transplantation to either reverse or modulate autoimmune disease. Indeed, it is a field that has far more promise than premise based on a variety of issues, including economics, health care delivery, and obviously efficacy and safety. To put this in perspective, we have attempted to review some of the issues that pertain to this novel approach to the management of autoimmunity. Finally, we emphasize the need to incorporate basic research into therapeutic trials, a vacuum all too often present in clinical intervention.
de Carvalho
Jozélio Freire
JF
Rheumatology Division, Faculty of Medicine, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil. jotafc@gmail.com
Pereira
Rosa Maria Rodrigues
RM
Gershwin
M Eric
ME
D001327:Autoimmune Diseases / Q000628:therapy*; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D018380:Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation; D006801:Humans