Scientists Discover Possible Origin Of Autoimmune Diseases - And How To Treat Them
Yale researchers associate autoimmune disease with intestinal bacteria
Autoimmune diseases, such as lupus, rheumatoid arthritis and celiac disease, are difficult to diagnose and it is only recently that doctors and research have begun to delve into the issue. There are more than a hundred types of autoimmune disease and many patients, such as actress and singer Selena Gomez (who has lupus), take years to discover the cause of their symptoms and how to live with them. The difficulties are many, but a group of scientists seems to have found the origin of these diseases, as well as an efficient way to treat them.
Yale University researchers have linked the autoimmune reactions to an intestinal bacteria called Enterococcus gallinarum. The autoimmune response, says the article published in the scientific journal Science, is triggered when the bacteria spontaneously migrates from the intestine to other organs of the body, such as the spleen, liver and lymph nodes.
Autoimmune diseases are conditions in which chronic inflammation occurs, caused by the person's own immune system, which mistakenly thinks the body is under threat and then reacts by attacking healthy tissue. There are over a hundred types of autoimmune disease - the most common examples are lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, celiac disease, Sjögren's syndrome, polymyalgia rheumatica and multiple sclerosis.
The study included this group of diseases in the long list of health-related conditions of intestinal bacteria. During the research, scientists used genetically altered mice to be susceptible to autoimmune diseases. They looked at intestinal bacteria to find which ones caused inflammation or were involved in the production of antibodies known to elicit autoimmune responses. the culprit was the Enterococcus gallinarum.
The results were confirmed by comparing cultures of liver cells from healthy people versus cells from people with some autoimmune disease. They found traces of Enterococcus gallinarum in the second group.
In addition to identifying the source, researchers have developed an effective method of reducing autoimmune symptoms. Using antibiotics or a vaccine, they were able to reduce symptoms by inhibiting the growth of the Enterococcus gallinarum. The hope is that this research will develop into successful treatments for some autoimmune diseases, including autoimmune hepatitis and lupus.
"The vaccine against E. gallinarum has a specific approach and we've investigated vaccines against other bacteria that had no effect on mortality or autoimmunity," warns Martin Kriegel, lead author of the study. He believes antibiotics or other approaches such as vaccination are promising ways to improve the lives of patients with autoimmune diseases.
