GW/P-Bodies and Autoimmune Disease

Some patients with autoimmune disease develop antibodies directed against intracellular structures. Despite more than 50 years of research, the etiology of autoantibody formation in these patients remains unknown. Autoantibody formation may precede the development of clinical disease manifestations by years if not decades (Arbuckle et al. 2003; Prince et al. 2004). It therefore seems likely that autoantibodies are involved in the earliest events that occur in an autoimmune disease. Autoantibodies may provide the only clue to the environmental exposure, such as a viral infection, that initiates autoimmune diseases in susceptible individuals. © Springer Science+Business Media New York 2013.