Mom's cells tied to autoimmune ills.Just in time for Mother's Day comes news that maternal cells linger in a child's body for years after birth. In some cases, researchers suggest, these cellular mementos of Mom trigger autoimmune diseases Autoimmune diseases A group of diseases, like rheumatoid arthritis and systemic lupus erythematosus, in which immune cells turn on the body, attacking various tissues and organs. Mentioned in: Complement Deficiencies, Premature Menopause in the child. A few years ago, researchers made the converse discovery: A child's cells can stow away in a mother for decades after pregnancy (SN: 2/10/96, p. 85). Women with the autoimmune disease autoimmune disease, any of a number of abnormal conditions caused when the body produces antibodies to its own substances. In rheumatoid arthritis, a group of antibody molecules called collectively RF, or rheumatoid factor, is complexed to the individual's own gamma scleroderma scleroderma or progressive systemic sclerosis Chronic disease that hardens the skin and fixes it to underlying structures. Swelling and collagen buildup lead to loss of elasticity. The cause is unknown. are more likely to have these persistent cells in their bloodstream than women without the disease (SN: 8/2/97, p. 71). This raises the possibility that the fetal cells somehow interfere with the mother's immune system immune system Cells, cell products, organs, and structures of the body involved in the detection and destruction of foreign invaders, such as bacteria, viruses, and cancer cells. Immunity is based on the system's ability to launch a defense against such invaders. . Now, J. Lee Nelson of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle and her colleagues report that boys with the autoimmune disease lupus lupus (l  `pəs), noninfectious chronic disease in which antibodies in an individual's immune system attack the body's own substances. have more maternal cells circulating in their bloodstreams than boys without lupus do. "Bidirectional trafficking of these cells is much more common than anyone ever anticipated," says study collaborator Diana W. Bianchi of the New England Medical Center in Boston. Immune-system proteins, which determine whether a transplant patient will accept or reject a donated organ, influence how the body reacts to these foreign cells, Nelson says. In mothers with scleroderma and sons with lupus, the host's immune system is compatible with, but not identical to, the immune system of the cell source, she finds. Those without the disease showed greater differences between mother and child. "Maybe autoimmune diseases are not entirely self versus self," says Nelson. Cells whose immune-system proteins differ only slightly from the host's may circumvent the body's first-line defenses but then trigger disease by an as yet unknown mechanism. Women may both inherit cells from their own mothers and pick up additional cells from each pregnancy. The resulting multitude of interlopers INTERLOPERS. Persons who interrupt the trade of a company of merchants, by pursuing the same business with them in the same place, without lawful authority. may help explain why women are more likely than men to suffer from autoimmune diseases, Nelson says. Mere presence of someone else's cells isn't enough to disrupt the immune system, comments Carol Artlett of Thomas Jefferson University It began as Jefferson Medical College in 1824. On July 1, 1969 the institution officially became Thomas Jefferson University. The university is made up of three colleges:
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