Exploring New Treatments for Autoimmune Diseases

The mechanism of a human body surpasses every other invention that has transformed mankind. Be it light or the first step in Moon, nothing can match a human body that works 24/7, 365 days a year. However, whenever there is the slightest change that results in malfunctioning within the body, we call it a disease. 

Autoimmune disease

The Immune system disorder is one such disease that results in a low or abnormal activity of the immune system. In these circumstances, the antibodies damage the body's own tissues. With over eighty types of autoimmune diseases globally, it's a tough time for a medical specialist to identify the source. However, once identified, autoimmune disease treatment is curable and is a common ailment in today's modern times.

As medical science continues to walk on the path of innovations and new solutions, new therapies are being explored for autoimmune disease cures too. A majority of the current therapies affect the normal cells that are working normally alongside inactivating the specific immune cell. This ultimately leaves a human body open to other kinds of diseases and infections. And, therefore scientists across the globe are exploring new avenues for autoimmune disease cure.

These constant pushes to develop advanced therapies for curing autoimmune disease has taken a constructive motion and are progressing forward with result-oriented solutions. Below are the common objectives:

·         target the specific immune cell and leave the healthy ones

·         improving immune tolerance in quick time

·         minimum side-effects and low toxicity

·         cost-effective methodology - helpful for the masses

                                                                                                     

As per the details available in the journal Nature Biomedical Engineering, researchers of the Utah Health - Saltlake City, USA are working closing to disable the particular immune cells, while excluding the healthy immune cells. Already performed on mouse models, it focuses on the PD-1 cells that have a crucial role to play in regulating the immune response. Below are some of the probable pathways that can be a major player in the coming times.

Costimulatory Blockade

The T cells get activated only when it receives the two main signals - antigen recognition and the Costimulatory signal provided by the cell. This approach revolves around the concept of blocking the Costimulatory signals. Although this has been tested, the results are very slow and limited.

Regulatory T Cell Therapy

Although immune responses are directed at self-antigens, T cells are the most important cells as it has a mighty role in suppressing autoimmunity in the body. Discovered in the late 90's, this discovery was a landmark in the field of immunology.

Antigen Administration

Identifying the self-antigens is another viable approach so that these antigens will inhibit rather than promote autoimmune responses when administered in a human body. Clinically tested for several years, Allergen-specific immunotherapy (allergen-SIT) is an effective therapy for treating autoimmune disease.

The Future Path

Different approaches or therapies have yielded different results and are unique to one and another. Each therapy has its own positive and negative sides that have to be counted. In addition, encouraging ethically sound clinical trials should be done at a global level, so that we can derive a definite process for autoimmune disease treatment.