Pharmaceutical Review (Associate editor) In illnesses referred to as autoimmune diseases, immune systems attack healthy tissues. Immune system checkpoints involving B cells are being studied by researchers as potential novel therapeutic targets. A few studies have also connected vitamin D to autoimmune diseases. The immune system stops antibodies from being created that target and damage the body’s healthy tissues. Autoimmune diseases obstruct this process.The potential of a B cell-based therapy to treat these disorders is now being examined by research teams.Eric Meffre, a professor of rheumatology and immunology at Stanford University in California and a co-author of the study, believes the results offer enormous potential for the treatment of autoimmune diseases.
According to Meffre, who spoke to Medical News Today, “B cells are a type of white blood cell that aids in the defense against infections by producing antibodies, which can recognize foreign molecules and antigens, produced by pathogens, such as bacteria and viruses.” “The body’s cells produce self-antigens, which are certain antigens. This results in the immune system identifying them as foreign invaders, which causes the B cells to attack healthy tissue in an effort to eliminate the antigens, which causes autoimmune disorders. Self-reactive B cells are those that exhibit such behavior.
The central tolerance mechanism of the immune system, which prevents this, involves exposing the B cells to self-antigens while they grow in the bone marrow. “A [DNA-sensing] receptor known as TLR9 is essential for central tolerance.”