PREDICTION AND PREVENTION OF AUTOIMMUNE SKIN DISORDERS (LITERATURE REVIEW)

Autoimmune diseases may be preceded by an asymptomatic phase, which is determined by the presence of autoantibodies and can last for many years. These autoantibodies may have a high positive predictive value for disease onset, severity, and organ-specific complications, especially in genetically predisposed individuals. Characteristic autoantibodies and susceptibility genes have been identified in many systemic autoimmune and skin and mucosal diseases such as systemic lupus erythematosus, pemphigus, vitiligo, dermatitis herpetiformis and even psoriasis. Prevention of overt disease can be achieved once individuals at high risk are identified and precipitating factors are eliminated. Numerous environmental factors such as vitamin D deficiency, ultraviolet radiation, smoking, drugs, etc. have been found to cause autoimmunity. Alternatively, even if an autoimmune disease cannot be prevented, it can be delayed or attenuated. Thus, although a large body of data has been accumulated on characteristic autoantibodies, susceptible genes, and environmental factors, many more large-scale studies are needed to evaluate their predictive value, preventive measurements, and means of their application to the clinical management of healthy populations and patients with high levels of morbidity. [1,3,5,7,9]