Encyclopedia of Clinical Research, Immunogenetics, and Experimental Pathologies

• Autoimmunization — The active pathophysiological process through which an organism becomes immunized against its own antigenic constituents; the actual triggering and induction of autoantibody production following exposure to triggering factors or structural modifications of self-proteins. Unlike autoimmunity (the general state), the term describes the dynamics, evolution, and concrete stages of acquiring this abnormal reactivity.