Discovery Prompts New Theory on Cause of Autoimmune Diseases

Saw an article in ScienceDaily about a new theory on the cause of autoimmune diseases, including Crohn's Disease. Researchers discovered a protein (or peptide) fragment that's capable of causing diabetes in mice. The basic hypothesis is that the unusual introduction of these peptides allows errant T-cells to escape the thymus and make there way to other parts of the body where they initiate immune responses associated with autoimmune diseases. These errant T-cells that are autoreactive (or that react to your body's own cells) are normally deleted by the immune system. However, the introduction of these rare peptides causes the deletion procedure to not work properly.

Here's an excerpt:

In the April 23, 2010, issue ofImmunity, Drs. Brian Stadinski, John Kappler and George Eisenbarth propose that the unusual and rare presentation of protein fragments (peptides) to the immune system allows autoreactive T cells to escape the thymus and trigger autoimmune disease. The findings could lead to a new strategy for preventing type 1 diabetes.

"The immune system normally deletes dangerous, autoreactive T cells that recognize 'self' peptides, which are a normal part of the organism," said Dr. Kappler, Professor of Immunology at National Jewish Health. "We believe autoreactive T cells in diabetes and other autoimmune diseases escape destruction in the thymus because they never see these poorly presented peptides there. But the T cells do encounter those peptides elsewhere in the body and trigger an autoimmune attack."

Pretty fascinating if the theory is correct. It could also suggest very new areas of research for treatment options.