Author: Schwartz N^1,², Chalasani MLS¹, Li TM¹, Feng Z¹, Shipman WD^1,³, Lu TT^1,^2,^4,⁵
Affiliation: 1HSS Research Institute, Hospital for Special Surgery, New York, NY, United States. 2Division of Rheumatology, Department of Medicine, Hospital for Special Surgery, New York, NY, United States. 3Weill Cornell Tri-Institutional MD-PhD Program, New York, NY, United States. 4Division of Pediatric Rheumatology, Department of Medicine, Hospital for Special Surgery, New York, NY, United States. 5Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY, United States.
Conference/Journal: Front Immunol.
Date published: 2019 Mar 20
Other: Volume ID: 10 , Pages: 519 , Special Notes: doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2019.00519. eCollection 2019. , Word Count: 102

Lymphatic vessels are critical for clearing fluid and inflammatory cells from inflamed tissues and also have roles in immune tolerance. Given the functional association of the lymphatics with the immune system, lymphatic dysfunction may contribute to the pathophysiology of rheumatic autoimmune diseases. Here we review the current understanding of the role of lymphatics in the autoimmune diseases rheumatoid arthritis, scleroderma, lupus, and dermatomyositis and consider the possibility that manual therapies such as massage and acupuncture may be useful in improving lymphatic function in autoimmune diseases.

KEYWORDS: autoimmune disease; lymphatic massage; lymphatics; rheumatoid arthritis; scleroderma; systemic lupus erythematosus

PMID: 30949174 PMCID: PMC6435962 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2019.00519

Lymphatic Function in Autoimmune Diseases.