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Article: Immunodeficiency Disease Syndromes
- Article from:
- World of Microbiology and Immunology
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2003 The Gale Group Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Immunodeficiency disease syndromes
An effective
immune system
requires that any antigens that are not native to the body be quickly recognized and destroyed, and that none of the antigens native to the body be identified as
foreign. Excesses in the latter constitute the autoimmune diseases. Deficiencies in the body's ability to recognize antigens as foreign or a diminished capacity to respond to recognized antigens constitute the
immunodeficiency
syndromes.
There are many causes associated with immunodeficiencies. Primary immunodeficiencies are inherited conditions in which specific genes or
gene
families are corrupted by
mutations
or chromosome deletions. These syndromes are ...