Experts have made a huge discovery in how they treat autoimmune diseases

Researchers are hopeful

Autoimmune diseases can severely impact the physical and mental health of those affected. Researchers hope this treatment could better help to alleviate symptoms. 

According to the Australasian Society of Clinical Immunology and Allergy, around five per cent of Australians live with autoimmune diseases. 

From more common diseases such as celiac and thyroiditis to rarer conditions like Lupus, autoimmune diseases significantly impact the lives of those affected.

Researchers hope a new approach to treating the chronic conditions could better help patients’ immune systems to stop attacking healthy tissue.

Current treatments for autoimmune disease

Different diseases require different treatments, but immunosuppressant drugs are a part of the recommended treatment plans for many of the chronic conditions, working to limit or prevent immune system responses.

While they can be helpful to stop the immune system attacking healthy cells, suppression can put patients at a greater risk of getting sick as their immune system can’t fight off infection as it usually would.

While they can be helpful to stop the immune system attacking healthy cells, suppression can put patients at a greater risk of getting sick as their immune system can’t fight off infection as it usually would. Image: iStock

Inverse vaccines

Inverse vaccines have been in testing for several years, but researchers believe they could be the key to better treating both autoimmune diseases and allergies. 

Instead of teaching the immune system to recognise and attack a virus like most vaccines do, inverse vaccines remove the immune system’s memory of a molecule. 

In the case of autoimmune disease treatment, this could stop the immune system from attacking the healthy tissue and causing inflammation.

Researchers believe they could be the key to better treating both autoimmune diseases and allergies. Image: Pexels

In a 2023 study assessing the vaccine’s effect on autoimmune diseases, researchers described the treatment’s function as taking advantage of the liver’s natural process of stopping the immune system from attacking cells that die off naturally. 

Researchers paired disease-related proteins called antigens with a molecule similar to these cells the immune system knows not to attack, teaching the system to ignore both.

As per The Guardian, lead author of the study, bioengineer Jeffrey Hubbell explained, “what this does is, it re-educates the immune system”.

The treatment takes advantage of the liver’s natural process of stopping the immune system from attacking cells that die naturally. Image: Pexels

“So then it says: ‘OK, I’m good, I don’t need to attack this, because I see that it’s not a threat.’”

Researchers have suggested the vaccines could be beneficial in the treatment of celiac disease and multiple sclerosis.

Many believe the benefits could last at least for several months, Hubbell explaining that the immune system “has a memory, and that memory lasts.”

Because allergies also involve the immune system having a disproportionate response, there’s hope inverse vaccines could also be used to alleviate allergy symptoms. Image: Getty Images

New approach to allergy treatment

Because allergies also involve the immune system having a disproportionate response, there’s hope inverse vaccines could also be used to alleviate allergy symptoms.

Hubbell’s most recently published paper highlighted the vaccines’ effect on mice with allergies. After receiving the treatment, the rodents were protected from allergic reactions to dust mite and chicken egg white antigens.

The vaccines aren’t yet approved for human use, and it’s yet to be seen if the results from animal test trials will be mirrored in humans, but the findings are giving hope to those working to find better treatments for these life-altering illnesses. 

Originally published as Experts have made a huge discovery in how they treat autoimmune diseases