Autoimmune rheumatic diseases: One or many diseases?

Abstract

Until the etiopathogenic factor(s) of autoimmune and autoinflammatory rheumatic disorders will be identified, their classification into entities will continue. However, their similar clinical manifestations, overlapping syndromes, evolution from one entity into another, as well as common autoantibody responses, suggest that autoimmune and autoinflammatory disorders may constitute distinct pathophysiologic processes on the basis of a different genetic background. Prognosis and effective therapeutic regimens are mostly based on the clinico-pathologic severity of the involved tissues or organs and not on the disease label.

Keywords: Autoimmune rheumatic disease; Autoimmune rheumatic diseases, ARDs; Common humoral auto-reactivity; Genetics; Mixed connective tissue disease, MCTD; Overlapping clinical syndrome; Rheumatoid arthritis, RA; Scleroderma, SScl; Sjögren's syndrome, SS; Small nuclear ribonucleoprotein, sn RNP; Systemic lupus erythematosus, SLE; Therapeutics.