Immune complex glomerulonephritis is another condition associated with the production of antibodies against DNA and DNA-protein etc. In patients with SLE, immune complex deposits containing antibodies to single stranded and double stranded DNA have been detected in the kidney tissue. While these Type III reactions do not cause the classic IgE allergic response, they can and do cause insidious disease when these antigen-antibody reactions form insoluble complexes at fixed sites within the body that may give rise to acute inflammatory reactions, eg rheumatoid arthritis. The production and release of inflammatory mediators and proteolytic enzymes etc can damage tissue and further intensify inflammatory responses. These can provoke autoantibody formation.
Drugs can result in autoimmunity and production of antinuclear antibodies.
Immune responses to persistent and unrecognised extrinsic antigens, as in chronic viral infections can generate chronic allergic disorders that are difficult to distinguish from anti-self immune reactions. Most immunogenic preparations are a diverse mixture of antigenic molecules, and antisera produced from such preparations will consist of polyclonal antibody populations that are reactive with their own molecule. References Roitt I. 1988. Blackwell Scientific Publications. Van Nostrand Reinhold Company.