Table 2.

Environmental Factors that we are confident induce or exacerbate autoimmunity.

Agent (Form)	Species, strain	Sex	Age (weeks)	Exposure, Vehicle	Doses Tested, length of exposure	Endpoints	Reference
Chemical Factors
Metals
Inorganic Mercury (HgCl2)	Mouse, B10.S, SJL, others	M, F	6–8	Injection s.c., saline	1.6 mg/kg two to three times/week for 4 weeks	Disease induction: serum Igs, autoAb, immune deposits	Kono DH et al, 1998 [15] Abedi-Valugerdi M et al 2001 [14]
Inorganic Mercury (HgCl2)	Mouse, NZBWF1	F	4–8	Injection s.c., saline	1.6 mg/kg two to three times/week for 4 weeks	Disease exacerbation: serum Igs, autoAb, immune deposits	Al-Balaghi S et al, 1996 [85] Pollard KM et al, 1999 [86]
Adjuvants
TMPD (Pristane)	Rat, Dark Agouti, others	M, F	8–14	S.c. or intradermal, saline	150 ul X 1, up to 1 year	Disease induction: arthrits	Olofsson P and Holmdahl R, 2007 [32]
TMPD (Pristane)	Mouse, BALB/c, others	M, F	8–12	i.p., saline	0.5 ml, up to 9 months	Disease induction: serum Igs, autoAb, immune deposits, arthritis	Satoh M et al, 2000 [35] Clynes R et al, 2005 [34]
Biological Factors
Associated Infections
Streptococ cus group A	Mouse, BALB/c,	M/F	4–8	s.c./PBS	0.5mg M protein peptides/8 weeks	Disease induction: AutoAbs, myocarditis	Cunningham MW et al, 2001 [57]
	Rat, Lewis	F	8–12	s.c. or i.p./CFA	0.5 mg recombinant M protein/17–21 days	Disease induction: Lymphocyte proliferation, Valvulitis/carditis	Gorton D et al, 2009 [62] Quinn A et al, 2001 [60]
Coxsackie B virus	Mouse, BALB/c, others	M/F	4–8	i.p./PBS	1×103 PFU (Nancy strain) CVB3 up to 56 days	Disease induction: AutoAbs, mycarditis	Esfandiarei M et al, 2008 [69]
Dietary Factors
Iodine	Mouse, NOD-H2h4	M, F	6–8	Oral, water	0.05% iodine for up to 8 weeks	Disease exacerbation: AutoAbs, thyroiditis	Rasooly L et al, 1996 [52] Hutchings PR et al, 1999 [51] McLachlan SM et al, 2005 [49]