Connective tissue diseases demand study because of their frequency, morbidity and mortality. They present intriguing challenges in the fields of diagnosis, management and research. Their range has now expanded enormously so that no individual can master the whole subject, particularly as this relates to their immunological basis.
Immunology of Connective Tissue Diseases has been written by experts who are either clinical or basic scientists. 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.
The book is aimed at physicians interested in understanding the immunological basis of these diseases, and at immunologists who are either entering this field for the first time and would like to have a convenient state-of-the-art account of its status, or who are researching in one area and would like to acquaint themselves with the developments which have taken place in others.

Inhalt
1 The role of T cells in the immunopathogenesis of the connective tissue diseases: Rheumatoid arthritis as the paradigm.- 2 B cells and rheumatoid factors in rheumatoid arthritis.- 3 The mononuclear phagocyte and rheumatoid arthritis.- 4 The HLA association with rheumatoid arthritis.- 5 Cytokines and inflammatory arthritis.- 6 Adhesion molecules involved in leukocyteendothelial cell interactions.- 7 The complement system and connective tissue disease.- 8 The acute phase response.- 9 Animal models of systemic lupus erythematosus.- 10 Animal models of arthritis.- 11 Lyme arthritis: Pathogenetic principles emerging from studies in man and mouse.- 12 Retroviral arthritis in animals and man.- 13 Autoantibodies against DNA.- 14 Immunology of antiphospholipid antibodies.- 15 Autoantigens in connective tissue diseases.- 16 Sjögren's syndrome: From polyclonal B cell activation to monoclonal B cell proliferation.- 17 Immunotherapy.- 18 Immune reactivity against heat shock proteins and arthritis.