By C. Rajan, contributing writer

Researchers at the University of Bristol have made an important breakthrough that could lead to new treatments for debilitating autoimmune diseases; they have discovered a process to 'switch off' these diseases. This discovery points to the use of antigen-specific immunotherapy as a treatment for many autoimmune disorders, including multiple sclerosis (MS), type 1 diabetes, Graves' disease, and systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE).

The researchers discovered how they could selectively target the cells that cause autoimmune disease by preventing them from attacking the body's own tissues while converting them into cells capable of protecting against disease. While this type of conversion has been used to fight allergies, researchers have applied it to autoimmune diseases only recently.

The Bristol group showed that administration of fragments of certain proteins that are normally the target for attack corrected the autoimmune response. They also revealed that increasing the dose of antigenic fragment injected made treatment more effective.

The scientists then went on to study the immune cells themselves to see which genes and proteins were turned on or off by the treatment. They also found changes in gene expression that indicated how effective treatment that enables aggressor cells to become protector cells.

Professor David Wraith, who led the research, said: "Insight into the molecular basis of antigen-specific immunotherapy opens up exciting new opportunities to enhance the selectivity of the approach while providing valuable markers with which to measure effective treatment. These findings have important implications for the many patients suffering from autoimmune conditions that are currently difficult to treat."

This treatment approach is currently undergoing clinical development through Apitope, a spin-off biotech company founded by Prof. David Wraith.

Dr. Keith Martin, CEO of Apitope commented, “Multiple Sclerosis affects around 100,000 people in the U.K. and 2.5 million people worldwide. This is an important breakthrough in our fight against debilitating autoimmune diseases by providing further important information on how to stop cells attacking healthy body tissue. This research further reinforces Apitope’s treatment approach, which has already successfully completed two clinical trials in MS patients with MRI data showing a significant decrease in new lesions, and has the potential to improve the lives of millions of people worldwide. Importantly, we are now taking this approach into other serious autoimmune conditions as well as MS.”

This type of selective immunotherapeutic approach can help avoid the need for the immune suppressive drugs associated with undesirable side effects, such as infections and development of tumors.

The study was published last week in Nature Communications.