Pharmaceutical companies are spending increasing amounts of money on drug discovery and development. Nevertheless, attrition rates in clinical development are still very high, and up to 90% of new compounds fail in clinical phase I - III trials, which is partially due to lack of clinical efficacy. This indicates a strong need for highly predictive in vitro and in vivo models. The "50th International Workshop of the Ernst Schering Research Foundation" focussed on "Animal Models of T Cell-Mediated Skin Diseases." Such animal models should have impact not only on inflammatory dermatoses but...

This book provides a practical and secure guide through the complexity of Autoimmune Diagnostics and Diagnostic Pathways. It contains an overview of significant aspects of Autoimmune Diagnostics, a standard procedure for indirect immunofluorescence and describes all important autoimmune diseases in terms of their diagnostic. In step with actual practice the innovative concept of Diagnostic Pathways leads from symptoms through all steps and branches to diagnosis.