Because chronic IFN-I or TNF-α responses often occur in a variety of autoimmune diseases [157] , it will be worth examining whether pDC activation by herpesvirus infections may contribute to the development of autoimmunity. As mentioned earlier, a deleterious role of pDCs has been proposed for SLE or psoriasis [103, 104] . Although the etiology of these diseases is not entirely understood, it is possible that infections with certain herpesviruses could initiate the pathology in some patients. The possible implication of EBV infection in several autoimmune diseases including SLE is indeed debated [158, 159] .