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Acute rheumatic fever (ARF) is a delayed autoimmune response to Streptococcus pyogenes (Group A streptococcus) infection, driven by the activation of CD4 cells by streptococcal M protein and other bacterial antigens that crossreact with host cardiac antigens, causing myocardial valve inflammation. Repeated S. pyogenes infection may result in rheumatic heart disease (RHD), which affects about 33 million people worldwide and results in 319,000 deaths annually.
Investigators now demonstrate a potential novel pharmacotherapy target to prevent RHD: A dysregulated immune response. In serum from Australian Aboriginal patients with ARF, a population group with high burden of RHD, the researchers identified peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) w…