Autoimmune Diseases and Self-Cell Attack — NEET Biology
✅ Asked in NEET 2024Memory-based acquired immunity evolved in higher vertebrates based on the ability to differentiate foreign organisms (e.g., pathogens) from self-cells. While we still do not understand the basis of this, two corollaries of this ability have to be understood. One, higher vertebrates can distinguish foreign molecules as well as foreign organisms. Most of the experimental immunology deals with this aspect. Two, sometimes, due to genetic and other unknown reasons, the body attacks self-cells. This results in damage to the body and is called auto-immune disease. Rheumatoid arthritis which affects many people in our society is an auto-immune disease.
NTA tests your understanding that autoimmune diseases occur when the body's immune system mistakenly attacks its own cells instead of foreign pathogens. The most common student error is confusing autoimmune diseases with immunodeficiency disorders—remember autoimmune = body attacks self, while immunodeficiency = immune system is weak. Another trap is not recognizing that rheumatoid arthritis is a classic autoimmune disease example that NTA specifically highlights. Key point: autoimmune diseases result from genetic and unknown factors causing loss of self-tolerance, leading to self-cell destruction and tissue damage. This appears repeatedly in NEET because it directly tests your ability to distinguish between immune responses against pathogens versus abnormal immune responses against self-cells.
This paragraph was tested 4 times in NEET.
Which of the following are Autoimmune disorders? A. Myasthenia gravis B. Rheumatoid arthritis C. Gout D. Muscular dystrophy E. Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) Choose the most appropriate answer from the options given below: (NEET 2024)
Given below are two statements: (NEET 2022) Statement I: Autoimmune disorder is a condition where body defense mechanism recognises its own cells as foreign bodies. Statement II: Rheumatoid arthritis is a condition where body does not attack self cells. In the light of the above statements, choose the most appropriate answer from the options given below:
Which of the following is not an autoimmune disease? (NEET 2018)
In higher vertebrates, the immune system can distinguish self-cells and non-self. If this property is lost line to a genetic abnormality and it attacks self-cells, then it leads to (NEET 2016 Phase 1)
Through deep analysis of NEET and NTA, 88 of 90 questions from the NEET 2026 paper were matched straight from the MedicNEET Biology question bank.
88/90MedicNEET's Biology question bank is built from the same NCERT lines NTA picks repeatedly. Not random MCQs — questions crafted exactly like NTA crafts them.