Possible NEW Autoimmune Therapy on Deck?
Study in brief Layman's terms--no gene therapy--permanent solution
This is an incredible study from 2020. I have to think it was not given the attention it should have received because we were in the throes of lockdowns and daily news meant to shock and cause panic during that time, which caused division, and worse.
This is a study on RETRAINING the immune system in MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS in a conceptually similar model to how allergy desensitization therapy works for conditions like peanut allergies! This is not the same, but it is a way to try and get people thinking about this. Science is so abstract for many people, and this is OK.
This study is very heavy on the science. There is so much involved, I am not covering the majority of it to do it justice.
This is pre-clinical, meaning it was not carried out on humans--yet.
For those unaware, when someone has an allergy to peanuts, a process can take place where a patient goes to the doctor and is exposed many times to the peanut so the body eventually no longer sees it as a bad thing, it sees it as OK. In auto immune disorders like MS, the body will mistaken part of its own "self" as the baddie, or the bad guy. In MS, this is part of the nerve, of the nervous system. That means the immune system is attacking the nerves thinking that the nerves don't belong. And it keeps going.
When we talk about auto immune myocarditis, this is where the body mistakenly sees part of the human heart, like myosin, as the bad guy.
The immune system then attacks that part of the heart. The immune system gets confused.
This can happen when inflammation and an immune response to an antigen is occurring, where the body was infected with something, like a virus, and part of the virus is very similar, or identical to that part of the human body, that the immune system of the body confuses non-self for self, and then the immune system then perceives part of us, our human body, as the bad guy, and develops antibodies against it, and it just keeps going.
The body sees the virus--the immune system sees the virus, but says, hey, wait a second, that part of the virus looks just like this one part of US, what do we do? We attack the body too! So the immune system starts attacking part of the human too. This is called "auto immune" dysfunction.
What if you could retrain the immune system to no longer see the self as the baddie in autoimmune dysfunction like MS? That is exactly what these researchers wanted to find out!
In the study, the researchers were able to "retrain" the immune system in the context of multiple sclerosis (MS) by repeatedly exposing it to a fragment of Myelin Basic Protein (MBP), the protein that the immune system mistakenly attacks in MS. This is what causes people who have nerve pain because the nerve is being attacked. This can cause other concerns as well all throughout the body. It's very scary.
The process was effective in reducing, and almost eliminating the autoimmune response to MBP in their experimental models. This means the immune system was no longer attacking the protein that is present in our nerves. Multiple sclerosis is extraordinarily painful. Something that attacks our nerves is very painful. The people that go through this type of pain are not understood often by their own providers or families. They just don't get it. It's a sad state of affairs.
The same is true for those who suffer from conditions that are similar like autoimmune demyelinating polyneuropathy. It's not just numbness. It's not just stinging and pins and needles and it definitely isn't a vibration feeling. It feels as though parts of one's body are being pressed up against a hot iron or a burning hot stove.
Drugs like gabapentin do not stop this process. The body continues to attack nerves.
Back to the study.
White blood cells (T-cells) that previously attacked MBP were reprogrammed to stop the attack and, in some cases, actually protect the body from further damage.
Gene regulation was altered within the immune cells, turning off genes that trigger an immune response and turning on genes that promote tolerance. This effectively "silenced" the autoimmune reaction.
How exactly was this done?
Well, if we think about peanut allergy (not the same, but same vein, pun intended), the immune system is exposed to tiny, incremental amounts of peanut protein.
This happens at the doctor's office under supervision in case something bad happens, like a bad attack. Over time, the immune system becomes less reactive to the allergen, and in this case, it is the peanut, reducing or eliminating allergic reactions.
This gradual exposure changes the immune system's response by training the immune cells (T-cells and others) to tolerate the peanut protein rather than seeing it as a threat. Then, the person can eat peanuts again, no problemo!
What the scientists did here, was similar, to a degree.
The immune system was repeatedly exposed to small, highly soluble fragments of Myelin Basic Protein (MBP), which is one of the proteins attacked in MS, which was designed to "trick" the immune system into recognizing MBP as a normal part of the body, rather than a foreign substance to attack. This means that instead of using little pieces of peanut, small pieces of the exact protein that exists around these nerves were introduced to the mice. It was similar in the way the body gets used to the peanut in someone who has a peanut allergy. Not exactly.
But little bits of this protein that is native, that means it's natural and not foreign, were introduced to the system and the immune system after a few doses said wait a second, this is part of us and we are not supposed to be attacking it, we are supposed to be protecting it! This belongs here! This protein belongs here!
Like desensitization, this repeated exposure causes the T-cells to switch from attacking the MBP to protecting it, by rewiring gene responses in immune cells.
This effectively "reprograms" the immune system to tolerate the body’s own protein. T-cells (white blood cells) that usually attack MBP were "reprogrammed" by this exposure. Instead of attacking MBP, the T-cells learned to tolerate or even protect the body against it.
This process mimicked how the immune system naturally distinguishes between self and non-self proteins (known as immune tolerance). The therapy caused changes in gene expression within the T-cells. Genes that normally activate an immune response were silenced. Other genes that promote tolerance were activated.
These changes were not temporary but were embedded in the T-cells, giving them a kind of "memory" that prevented them from triggering future attacks on MBP. After exposure, the T-cells maintained this reprogrammed state, remembering not to attack MBP even after the therapy stopped.
This rewiring of gene activity in T-cells may lead to long-term or even permanent immune tolerance of MBP. The study demonstrated that the immune system could be retrained to stop attacking MBP, a significant breakthrough for autoimmune conditions like MS. The autoimmune response to MBP was "turned off" in the experimental models, suggesting potential for stopping the progression of MS. While the study was groundbreaking, it was preclinical.
This means the findings were primarily demonstrated in laboratory settings or animal models, not yet fully tested in humans. The next step involves clinical trials to confirm whether this method can consistently reprogram the immune system in humans with autoimmune diseases like MS and if the effects can be long-lasting.
What if this could be done for people who have auto immune dysfunction like auto immune demyelinating polyneuropathy or auto immune myocarditis who suffered from infection or adverse events from covid RNA injection? Reduced or NO MORE IVIG. Reduced or NO MORE PREDNISONE. Reduced or NO MORE plasma exchange.
I truly think, this is going to be, a “thing”
We will not see auto immune thyroid disease anymore—etc.
If this works, if this looks as effective as it could be, it would make a MAJOR dent in the pharma AND neutraceutical industry.
Imagine if you did not have to take that pile of pills anymore.
References
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/06/200609130018.htm
Forgive my ignorance, but is this like peptide therapy? And how does one determine the specific protein fragments for other autoimmune disorders, for example scleroderma? Or are they the same or overlap? Thanks!