The Danger Model as an Alternative Cause of Autoimmunity Save

The danger model was proposed by Matzinger as an alternative (or complement) to the traditional self-non-self (SNS) model of autoimmunity. It postulates that the immune system decides to start an immune response if a potential threat is able to induce harm in the tissues, in counterpart to the SNS-model where foreignness is a fundamental precondition.  This review by Pacheco-Tena discusses the origins of the danger model and its implications in rheumatic disease. (image adapted from J Immunol Res. 2015; 2015: 506089.)