01294nas a2200301   4500000000100000008004100001260001300042653001900055653002400074653001700098653001400115653001100129653002300140653002100163653001200184653002300196653001800219653002900237653001700266653001700283100001300300700001700313245004700330300001000377490000700387520058400394022001400978       1992                            d  c1992 May10aAutoantibodies10aAutoimmune Diseases10aAutoimmunity10aCytokines10aHumans10aImmunity, Cellular10aImmunoglobulin G10aleprosy10aModels, Biological10aMycobacterium10aMycobacterium Infections10aTime Factors10aTuberculosis1 aRook G A1 aStanford J L00aSlow bacterial infections or autoimmunity?  a160-40 v133 a<p>In this article, Graham Rook and John Stanford propose that a group of idiopathic diseases that are often associated with a degree of autoimmunity and arthritis, including rheumatoid arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease, sarcoidosis and psoriasis, are caused by extremely slow-growing bacteria. They suggest that these diseases are one end of a continuous spectrum caused by related slow-growing genera, which ranges from rheumatoid arthritis, through Takayasu's arteritis and Whipple's disease, to reach the conventional mycobacterioses such as tuberculosis and leprosy.</p>  a0167-5699