#autoimmune

• Acroscleroderma — A localized clinical form or initial stage of systemic sclerosis (scleroderma), characterized by the thickening, induration, and progressive loss of skin elasticity restricted to the distal extremities (hands, feet) and the face. This structural autoimmune process alters microcirculation and dermal connective tissue, being almost constantly associated with Raynaud's phenomenon, painful digital tip ulcers, sclerodactyly, and facial tightening.
• Ankylosing — Causing, promoting, or accompanying ankylosis; causing progressive stiffening and permanent immobilization of the joints through fibrous or bony fusion. It is commonly used to describe severe forms of chronic autoimmune arthritis affecting the axial skeleton.
• Antithromboplastin — A chemical substance, circulating antibody, or physiological inhibitor capable of neutralizing or blocking the activity of thromboplastin (tissue factor III), halting the initiation of the extrinsic pathway of the blood coagulation cascade. In pathology, the presence of abnormal antithromboplastins (often associated with lupus anticoagulants or autoimmune diseases) induces severe laboratory test alterations, prolonging prothrombin time and disrupting normal hemostasis.
• Autoantibody — An antibody produced by an individual's immune system that, due to a functional recognition error, is pathologically directed against the host organism's own cells, tissues, or molecular constituents; a central factor in the triggering, progression, and clinical diagnosis of autoimmune diseases.
• Autoantigen — A normal molecular constituent, macromolecule, protein, or cellular structure native to an organism that, under conditions of impaired immune tolerance, is erroneously recognized as a foreign substance (antigen) and becomes the target of an attack triggered by its own immune system.
• Autotoxin — A toxic substance spontaneously or pathologically produced by one's own organism (through altered cellular metabolism, tissue degradation, or immune dysfunctions), capable of poisoning cells or triggering inflammatory and destructive reactions within the same body. This structural phenomenon underlies the understanding of self-intoxication processes and many chronic autoimmune diseases.