The immune responses of an organism against its own healthy cells, tissues and other normal body constituents. Specifically, the presence of antibodies or T cells that react with the body’s own proteins. A low level of self-reactivity is normal and possibly beneficial, but becomes autoimmune disease if it leads to tissue damage. Many diseases are now known to be autoimmune, including type 1 diabetes, multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis and lupus. In type 1 diabetes, the body’s own immune cells destroy the insulin-secreting cells in the pancreas. Mitochondrial dysfunction appears to play a major role in autoimmune disease.
