PMID: 9164922Jun 1, 1997Paper

Microbial products induce autoimmune disease by an IL-12-dependent pathway

The Journal of Immunology : Official Journal of the American Association of Immunologists
B M SegalE M Shevach

Abstract

The development and exacerbation of autoimmune diseases are associated with antecedent infectious illness. Microbial products such as LPS, bacterial DNA, or oligonucleotides containing an unmethylated cytosine-guanine dinucleotide have cytokine modulating properties. These products converted quiescent myelin basic protein-specific T cells into effector cells capable of transferring experimental allergic encephalomyelitis. The disease-promoting properties of the microbial products were solely dependent on their capacity to induce the production of IL-12.

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