Impact of Microbes on Autoimmune Diseases

• Published in: Archivum Immunologiae et Therapiae Experimentalis 2013-06, Vol.61 (3), p.175-186
• Main Authors: Danzer, Claudia, Mattner, Jochen
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Animals; Autoimmune Diseases - genetics; Autoimmune Diseases - immunology; Autoimmune Diseases - microbiology; Bacteria - immunology; Bacterial Infections - immunology; Bacterial Infections - microbiology; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Biomedicine; Genetic Predisposition to Disease; Host-Pathogen Interactions - immunology; Humans; Immunity, Innate; Immunology; Liver Cirrhosis, Biliary - genetics; Liver Cirrhosis, Biliary - immunology; Liver Cirrhosis, Biliary - microbiology; Lymphocyte Activation; Lymphocytes - immunology; Lymphocytes - microbiology; Pharmacology/Toxicology; Phenotype; Prognosis; Review
• ISSN: 0004-069X; 1661-4917
• DOI: 10.1007/s00005-013-0216-3

Autoimmune and autoinflammatory diseases arise as a consequence of complex interactions of environmental factors with genetic traits. Although specific allelic variations cluster in predisposed individuals and promote the generation and/or expansion of autoreactive T and B lymphocytes, autoimmunity appears in various disease phenotypes and localizes to diverging tissues. Furthermore, the discovery that allelic variations within genes encoding components of the innate immune system drive self-reactive immune responses as well, led to the distinction of immune responses against host tissues into autoimmune and autoinflammatory diseases. In both categories of disorders, different pathogenic mechanisms and/or subsequent orders of tissue assaults may underlie the target cell specificity of the respective autoimmune attack. Furthermore, the transition from the initial tissue assault to the development of full-blown disease is likely driven by several factors. Thus, the development of specific forms of autoimmunity and autoinflammation reflects a multi-factorial process. The delineation of the specific factors involved in the pathogenic process is hampered by the fact that certain symptoms are assembled under the umbrella of a specific disease, although they might originate from diverging pathogenic pathways. These multi-factorial triggers and pathogenic pathways may also explain the inter-individual divergent courses and outcomes of diseases among humans. Here, we will discuss the impact of different environmental factors in general and microbial pathogens in particular on the regulation/expression of genes encoded within susceptibility alleles, and its consequences on subsequent autoimmune and/or autoinflammatory tissue damage utilizing primarily the chronic cholestatic liver disease primary biliary cirrhosis as model.