Review article

Inflammatory rheumatic diseases and infections

J. Markeljević

Abstract

Inflammatory rheumatic diseases often overlap with symptoms of infection facing clinicians with a difficult problem because of variations in clinical presentation and disease course and sometimes because of the limitation of currently available diagnostic essays for detection of causative infectious agent. The differential diagnostic approach is focused on differentiating primary infectious from autoimmune diseases, considering possible reactive arthritis and secondary iatrogenic infection. The infectious agents may cause local or systemic inflammation of all structures of musculosceletal system: arthritis, bursitis, osteomyelitis, spondylodiscitis, myositis, in addition, erythema nodosum or vasculitis. However, there is also solid evidence suggesting that infections can exacerbate or even directly cause autoimmune reaction although it is not clear which type of infections induce, exacerbate or inhibit autoimmunity. The understanding of infectious mechanisms in rheumatic autoimmune diseases is important in basic research as well as in diagnostic procedures and treatment of various clinical syndromes in everyday clinical practice.

Keywords

Inflammatory rheumatic diseases; autoimmunity; infections

Hrčak ID:

12670

URI

https://hrcak.srce.hr/12670

Publication date:

1.12.2006.

Article data in other languages: croatian

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