Mixed connective tissue disease connective tissue disease is not necessarily associated with serum antibodies directed against the U1-RNP, and MCTD is associated with a more clearly defined set of signs/symptoms. MCTD combines features of scleroderma, myositis, systemic lupus erythematosus, and rheumatoid arthritis (with some sources adding polymyositis, dermatomyositis, and inclusion body myositis) and is thus considered an overlap syndrome. MCTD commonly causes: It has been associated with HLA-DR4. Distinguishing laboratory characteristics are a positive, speckled anti-nuclear antibody and an anti-U1-RNP antibody. The prognosis of mixed connective tissue disease is in one third of cases worse than that of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). In spite
Effects of parasitic worms on the immune system to Dr. Rook. This theory and the theory that certain parasitic worms pacify the immune response are similar in that both theories attribute the recent rise of autoimmune diseases to the decreased levels of pathogens in developed countries. However, the Hygiene Hypothesis claims that the absence of pathogenic organisms in general has led to this. In contrast, the parasitic worm theory only analyzes helminths, and specifically ones found to have a regulating effect. Type diabetes (T1D) is an autoimmune disease in which the immune system destroys the body's pancreatic beta cells. In an experiment with mice, infection with parasitic worms