A new study has been published in the journal Nature Communications that claims British scientists have discovered a way to stop autoimmune diseases such as multiple sclerosis or Type 1 diabetes. What they will do is retrain the immune system to function normally.
The study, published by researchers at Bristol University, UK, claims that the immune system can be trained like any muscle to stop acting upon harmless everyday proteins as if they were invasive diseases.
As it stands, Multiple sclerosis (MS) and Type 1 diabetes have been tested but the results may lead to trials on other auto-immune diseases such as Crohns and Colitis.
The team synthesized proteins from swabs in the lab and then injected them into the blood stream at increasing doses. They found that the body begins to learn that the proteins are safe so it no longer attacks them.
Researchers at the University of Bristol have said that this is a very “important breakthrough” and could help cure or better treat the diseases in their current state.
The study’s author Dr. Bronwen Burton stated that “The immune system works by recognizing antigens which could cause infection. In allergies the immune system mounts a response to something like pollen or nuts because it wrongly believes they will harm the body.
“But in autoimmune diseases the immune systems sees little protein fragments in your own tissue as foreign invaders and starts attacking them. What we have found is that by synthesizing those proteins in a soluble form we can desensitize the immune system by giving an escalating dose.”
“These findings have very important implications for the many patients suffering from autoimmune conditions that are currently difficult to treat,” he added.
Source: http://theliberal.ie/
