Susceptibility to Behcet's disease associated with genes involved in body's immune response
Researchers with the National Institutes of Health have found susceptibility to Behcet's disease, a painful, inflammatory condition, to be associated with genes involved in the body's immune response.
In papers published online in Immunity, scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis reveal that the cells, known as CD8 alpha+ dendritic cells, can help the body beat back infection by a common parasite, but the same cells can be hijacked by a bacterium to decimate the body's defenses.