thesis
Polymorphisms in Immune Response Genes in Infectious Diseases and Autoimmune Diseases
- Publication date
- 8 October 2008
- Publisher
- The clinical presentation of infections caused by the same micro-organism is highly
diverse. This is for example demonstrated for infections with Neisseria meningitidis
and respiratory syncytial virus. Some patients infected with N. meningitidis develop
meningitis, while others present with sepsis or even septic shock. Moreover, only part
of the individuals colonized with N. meningitidis develops clinical disease indicating
a different susceptibility between individuals to develop clinical disease. The disease
phenotype in respiratory syncytial virus infection varies from a common cold to severe
bronchiolitis which requires mechanical ventilation.(1) A similar variation is observed
in autoimmune diseases: While some patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) have
relatively mild disease, in others joint erosion develops rather early after diagnosis.
Although part of these variations in susceptibility and severity of infection is explained
by, for example, age or crowding, the reasons for this variation are not completely
clear. Genetic heterogeneity is thought to play a role.