This lab deals disorders of the immune system. We begin with a comparison of two autoimmune diseases, lupus and systemic sclerosis. Then, we examine transplant immunology..

Colagen vascular disease is a collective term for a number of overlapping autoimmune diseases including systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), rheumatoid arthritis (RA), systemic sclerosis (a.k.a. scleroderma), and dermatomyositis.

Of these, lupus and systemic sclerosis have profound impacts on numerous organs and tissues, and represent two prototypic multisystem autoimmune disease.

The next 2 pages reviews some basic info about SLE and systemic sclerosis taken from Robbins Chapter 6