Who is to blame?
The "culprits" of the development of autoimmune diseases have been found
Anna Kerman, XX2 century, based on the materials of IFLScience: Scientists Discover The Root Of Autoimmune Diseases – And How We Can Treat Them
To date , autoimmune diseases include
more than a hundred diseases of various localizations
The prevalence of autoimmune diseases has increased in recent years. However, many patients suffering from them still receive a diagnosis only after a long walk from clinic to clinic and from doctor to doctor.
But there are also reasons for optimism. Recently, a group of scientists from Yale University may have managed to find the true cause of autoimmune disorders. And at the same time, the method of dealing with them.
In an article published in Science, autoimmune reactions are associated with Enterococcus gallinarum bacteria living in the gastrointestinal tract. The authors of the work claim that autoimmune diseases can develop if these bacteria accidentally migrate from the intestine to other organs, for example, to the spleen, liver or lymph nodes.
Autoimmune diseases are a group of chronic inflammatory disorders caused by the patient's own immune system. In autoimmune disorders, cells that normally should protect the body from various dangers (for example, from infections) "decide" that their own organs and tissues pose a threat. To date, this group includes more than a hundred diseases, for example, systemic lupus erythematosus, rheumatoid arthritis and Hashimoto's thyroiditis. Now such diseases can be added to the long list of pathologies associated with the state of the intestinal microbiota.
For the study, scientists have developed a special line of mice susceptible to autoimmune diseases. The researchers then analyzed the gut microbiota to find out which of the bacteria cause inflammation or are related to the production of antibodies responsible for the development of an autoimmune response. The "culprit" was the bacterium E.gallinarum. The results of the work were confirmed by comparing the liver cell culture of healthy volunteers with the cell culture of patients suffering from autoimmune diseases. In the second group, traces of the presence of E.gallinarum were found in the cells.
It is important that the authors of the study were able not only to find the cause of the development of autoimmune diseases, but also to develop an effective way to reduce the severity of symptoms of these diseases. Using antibiotics or a vaccine, scientists were able to suppress the growth of E.gallinarum – and with it the development of signs of autoimmune disorders. Now researchers hope that the results of these experiments will soon turn into a way to treat patients suffering from certain autoimmune diseases, including autoimmune liver diseases and systemic lupus erythematosus.
"Vaccination against E.gallinarum turned out to be a specific approach [for the studied diseases], while vaccination against other bacteria that we carried out did not prevent the development of autoimmune reactions and did not help reduce mortality," explains lead author Martin Kriegel.
"Antibiotic treatment and other approaches – such as vaccination – are promising ways to improve the quality of life of patients suffering from autoimmune diseases," Kriegel adds.
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