Bücher der Reihe Immunology and Medicine

Our understanding of inflammation has increased rapidly in recent years, due in large part to the impact of molecular biology and gene identification and cloning.

Until recently, the contribution of immunological knowledge to the under standingand management ofENTdisorders was slight, being largely confined to the appreciation that many rhinitic patients were allergic.

Diseases of the gastrointestinal tract are common. Specific disease covered include bacterial infections, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection, coeliac disease, and inflammatory bowel disease.

Infection with the human immunodeficiency virus is characterized by the destruction of the host immune system as also reflected by a progressive loss of CD4-positive T-cells. It describes the clinical aspects of primary infection, the different clinical outcomes of HIV-1 infection, and strategies for anti-viral treatment.

The role of the immune response in both the pathology of liver disease and in the modulation ofliver injury has been the subject of intense research. Further chapters are devoted to the three major autoimmune liver diseases which are thought to be the result of loss of tolerance to autologous liver tissue.

Gastrointestinal diseases present a considerable problem in human medicine in terms of both morbidity and mortality. the immunological features of idiopathic inflammatory gut diseases such as Crohn's disease and intractable diarrhoea; the iatrogenic diseases of the gut such as graft-versus-host disease and small bowel allografts;

These advances are now facilitating research into the structure of the complement proteins, the nature of the complement deficiency syndromes, the regulation of complement gene expression and the role of complement in different diseases.

Connective tissue diseases demand study because of their frequency, morbidity and mortality. The book presents up-to-date reviews of the immunological basis of connective tissue diseases as it impacts on diagnosis, pathogenetic concepts, disease monitoring and management.

Gastrointestinal diseases present a considerable problem in human medicine in terms of both morbidity and mortality. the immunological features of idiopathic inflammatory gut diseases such as Crohn's disease and intractable diarrhoea; the iatrogenic diseases of the gut such as graft-versus-host disease and small bowel allografts;

In that relatively short period of time, study of the disease has moved from the level of early clinical description to exhaustive and extensive laboratory characterization of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), the immune responses directed towards it and reasons for their failure.

Our understanding of inflammation has increased rapidly in recent years, due in large part to the impact of molecular biology and gene identification and cloning.

Of central importance in autoimmunity is the relationship between antigen pre senting cells (including B cells) expressing MHC class II molecules, autoan tigenic peptides, T helper lymphocytes, and various effector cells.