CHINESE MEDICINE FOR IMMUNE-MEDIATED DISORDERS

摘要

Immune-mediated disorders occur when the immune system does not recognize the body's tissues or organs as "self, but instead, regards them as foreign and attacks them. A humoral and or cellular immune response targets specific cells/tissues/organs causing direct destruction and or deposition of immune complexes of antigen-antibody that result in significant damage to the body. If the condition is properly treated, damage will be minimal and the animal will recover, but if inappropriately treated, permanent damage and or destruction of body structure and function can result. Most IMD's are considered idiopathic from a conventional medicine perspective, and generally impossible to cure. There are cases of IMD development that have occurred immediatelyfollowing vaccination and drug therapy and thus the cause is known, however by and large the cause of IMD is unknown.' IMD are often described as developing from an "over-reactive" or "hyperactive" immune system. However, there is controversy as to whether or not this description is correct. The immune system may in fact be functioning normally and is attacking specific antigens that have gained access to the body and once retained, hide in specific cells or tissues. In other words, the immune system may be responding to antigens that have altered body tissues such that the immune system can't identify them as self, and instead regards that tissue as foreign and attacks it in the same way it would target any other antigen or pathogen. 2 Thus, even ifthe immune system is normal in all other ways this response gives rise to IMD development. There has been shown a genetic predilection for development of specific IMD such as the development of IMHA with breeds commonly affected such as the Labrador retriever, Cocker Spaniel, Shih Tzu and Miniature Schnauzers. IMD can also develop secondary to a viral, bacterial or other infectious agents (UTI, septicemia, tick borne), drugs (cephalexin, trimethoprim sulfa, propofol, Revolution, chemotherapy drugs) environmental toxins/chemicals (herbicides, pesticides), species inappropriate diets (contain corn, wheat and soy), cancer (hemangiosarcoma, lymphoma, leukemia, multiple myeloma) and vaccines (distemper, rabies, rattlesnake, Lyme's), can all act as triggersfor onset of the disease. There are several theories to explain how vaccines can produce immune diseases. One is called epitope mimicry. Antigens are substances that trigger the immune response in the body; an epitope is part of an antigen that's recognized by the immune system. In epitope mimicry,3 one of the antigens in a vaccine shares structural similarities with self-antigens. The immune system recognizes the vaccine antigen as foreign that stimulates an immune response that can extend to host cells with similar self-antigens. The second involves immune system activation from adjuvants in vaccines 4. Adjuvants are put into vaccines to help promote a strong immune response from vaccine antigens, and some have been shown to trigger autoimmunity. Itis hypothesized that a variety of other factors may be present that trigger symptomatic disease but are as of yet unidentified. IMD can affect a single tissue or organ (hemolytic anemia) or can be multisystemic (SLE) and is more prevalent in females than males, with dogs more commonly affected than cats.