Re: Would a PhD in immunology be good for a freshly certified rheumatologist persuing a research car> My research interests are the immunopathology
> of Wegener's granulomatosis and Churg-Strauss disease,
> and the effect of cytokines.
Both are autoimmune diseases. Among other things, granulomatosis
results in a high level local activation of 25 OH vitamin D into
1,25 (OH)2 vitamin D aka calcitriol (PMID: 8042652 & PMID: 8267026)
which in turn can lead to an excessive the systemic level of
calcitriol.
There is a certain irony in this
as there is reason to believe that that lack of sufficient
vitamin D levels plays a role in the development in at
least some (and perhaps most) autoimmune disorders
such as MS and type 1 DM.
There is said to be an increased of frequency of Wegener's
as one goes north in the northern hemisphere (PMID: 16368729).
This suggestive this vitamin connection may play a role
in this disease as well. Virus infections maybe the
precipitating event and a low vitamin D status maybe a permissive
state? It also would seem that the hormonal changes associated
with aging may also be permissive, in my tenative opinion.
And then there is some work that in some autoimmune
diseases such a systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) that
there can be antibodies to vitamin D. This assumes
one might dare to generalize about the autoimmune diseases
(PMID: 17785327).
Have Fun.......Trig