When autoimmune disease occurs in other organs the tissue is entirely destroyed. In other autoimmune diseases autoantibodies can play an active role in disease pathogenesis. Autoantibodies are produced by B cells of the immune system.
Autoantibodies recognize self antigens and they can occasionally have very destructive activity.
Other autoantibodies can have no obvious effect at all. Most of us, healthy or otherwise, have low levels of autoantibodies in our blood system but with no ill effects and even high levels of autoantibodies in some autoimmune diseases have no obvious activity. Whether the antibodies produced are destructive or not depends on their quality, quantity, and their specific antigen target. Studies on autoantibodies in alopecia areata have been many and the results conflicting. Three pictures of anti-nuclear antibodies.