WAidid suggests the article appeared on Pharmacological Research Is narcolepsy a classical autoimmune disease?

SUMMARY:

Narcolepsy is a sleep disorder resulting from the lack of orexin, a neurotransmitter involved in the equilibrium between sleep and wakefulness: narcoleptic patients suffer from excessive daytime sleepiness. The question ‘Is narcolepsy a classical autoimmune disease?’ come out from current evidences that suggest an autoimmune mediated process causing the specific loss of orexin neurons. In support of this theory there are the high association of the disease with the HLA DQB1*06:02, as well as the link with environmental factors. Recently, the association between the occurrence of the disease and vaccination campaign after the 2009 H1N1 pandemic highlighted the importance to increase the knowledge in the Pandora box of the vaccines. This review discusses the last finding regarding the pathogenesis of the disease and its relationship with the H1N1 vaccines.

AUTHORS: María-Teresa Arango, Shaye Kivity, Yehuda Shoenfeld

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