الفهرس 
IntroductionOnly 14 pages are availabe for public view
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Abstract
Autoimmune diseases (ADs) afflict approximately 5–8% of the world’s population and are generally categorized as systemic or organ specific. Interaction of genetic determinants and environmental influences can lead to tolerance breakdown and development of destructive autoreactive T-cell or B-cell responses in susceptible individuals. Almost all current therapies in ADs are based on systemic suppression of the immune system by means of monoclonal antibodies or small molecules but none is curative. Most ADs are originated from functional defects of immune system cells. Therefore it seems reasonable to eliminate or modulate the cells responsible for the damage instead of blocking aberrant cytokine production or dismal cell activation and this is the quest of cell therapy. from the beginning, ADs were considered as potential targets for these new therapies and several teams are actively studying the role that these cells might play in the pathogenesis of these diseases and its possible therapeutic effects. The acceptance of HSCT in the clinical arena followed successful studies in experimental animal models of ADs and observations of long-term remissions of ADs in patients treated with HSCT for hematological malignancies. The emerging immunomodulatory properties of the MSCs support the concept of using these SCs as an immunoregulatory tool for the treatment of ADs. On this basis and according to the clinical trials mentioned in this literature, SC transplantation should be considered as a potential therapeutic strategy for ADs