Is it just me, or does this seem kind of revolutionary? I’m amazed science has finally found a way to effectively put things on our immune system’s “allowlist”
Per my wife (an actual microbiologist with her undergrad focusing on immunology - providing this as context for why she I asked her, not just an appeal to authority) the core mechanisms are not new, quoting verbatim from messages:
That’s actually not new science
That’s antibody / mhc molecule immuno treatment
In cell lines and just started in mice
So this sounds like what they've done is found a set of molecules/receptors/something that are responsible for the MS and chrohns auto immune disorders that don't take out other things.
This doesn't mean this isn't a major development - MS especially is an awful condition - just the underlying mechanism isn't itself new.
Honestly I am so excited about this, it could litteraly be a way to eliminate deadly allergies, like foods and insects of course, but also medication and seasonal allergies
Yeah, if this works as advertised, I have friends and family whose lives will be immensely better. And imagine being able to prevent the progression of diseases before they cause permanent damage in younger patients - there's tremendous potential for better, healthier lives.
What is the antigen that is responsible for Crohn's disease? Is it always the same one? Also the original article doesn't mention Crohn's at all, just celiac.
It seems interesting that one galactose molecule (alphagal [1, 2]) is immunogenic in xenotransplantation and tick allergy, but two galactose molecules (pGal) are tolerogenic in this case
1- Identification of carbohydrate structures that bind human antiporcine antibodies: implications for discordant xenografting in humans https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/1566430/
2- Identification of alpha-galactosyl and other carbohydrate epitopes that are bound by human anti-pig antibodies: relevance to discordant xenografting in man
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/7521740/
"We show that pGal–antigen therapy induces antigen-specific tolerance in a mouse model...as well as the suppression of antigen-specific responses to vaccination against a DNA-based simian immunodeficiency virus in non-human primates"
The article also mentions that phase I trials have been carried out with humans:
"initial phase I safety trials have already been carried out in people with celiac disease...and phase I safety trials are underway in multiple sclerosis"
As someone with Crohn's and Ankylosing Spondylitis, that phase 1 trials had me excited in a long time. I did not take TNF blockers because of the cost and side effects.
I thought type 1 is a genetic defect that causes the pancreas to not function. How does a vaccine fix a broken body part that isn't inhibited by a virus or bacteria of some kind? What about people who are missing their pacrease? How does this cure type 1 in these patients?
In at least some cases type 1 diabetes is considered an autoimmune disease as are the other diseases listed in the headline. They're using the "vaccine" to turn off the body's overreaction to a specific antigene. This is huge if this makes it through human trials. There are a lot of people suffering from various autoimmune diseases.
From the article:
"A typical vaccine teaches the human immune system to recognize a virus or bacteria as an enemy that should be attacked. The new “inverse vaccine” does just the opposite: it removes the immune system’s memory of one molecule. While such immune memory erasure would be unwanted for infectious diseases, it can stop autoimmune reactions like those seen in multiple sclerosis, type I diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, or Crohn’s disease, in which the immune system attacks a person’s healthy tissues."
The rest of the article goes into some details of how it works.
