IRAK4 and autoimmune disease: Recent studies have also found that suppressed IRAK4 can inhibit plasmacytoid dendritic cells and natural killer cells from producing cytokines to treat systemic lupus erythematosus, which is an autoimmune disease that activates the circulating immune complexes and type I interferon and then produces proinflammatory cytokines and chemokines; this phenomenon to autoimmune reactions and organ inflammations (14).