|
|
Autoimmune diseases—celiac disease, lupus, multiple sclerosis, psoriasis, and others—are on the rise, thanks to factors such as lifelong stress, poor diet, and lack of exercise.
Mice are known to have a particular kind of T cell—a form of white blood cell that fights infection—that defends their bodies against autoimmune illnesses.
Because of other similarities with mice, researchers thought humans probably have the same kind of T cell but no one could find it—until now.
Unlike mice, the surface of human T cells don’t show the distinctive shapes that identify the cells in mice.
However, some human T cells show fairly comparable shapes.
Researchers at Stanford University measured the proportion of these suspect T cells in people with autoimmune conditions and compared that level in people without those illnesses.
They found that healthy people made more of those comparable cells than people suffering from autoimmune diseases.
The scientists also found that, in those sick people, these weak platoons of T cells tended to congregate in the locus of the illness; they gathered in the joints of people with rheumatoid arthritis, for example, and in the guts of people with celiac disease, still trying to fight off the attacks even though their numbers weren’t sufficient to win the battle.
To confirm their idea, the research team genetically altered mice to make far less of these proteins, then exposed them to viruses known to trigger autoimmune conditions.
The altered mice then developed symptoms consistent with autoimmune conditions, such as inflamed tissues.
TRENDPOST: The new work is a breakthrough. By finding ways to boost a person’s production of these obscure T cells, medical science could render autoimmune illnesses obsolete.