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MELETIOS VERRAS
While scientists have evidence that the composition of the gut microbiome is connected to a variety of autoimmune diseases, understanding how bugs in the intestine might exert influence on the body’s attacks on its own tissues has been tricky. A new study, published today (February 1) in Science Immunology, points to one possible link between autoimmunity and microbiota.
Type 1 diabetes is typically a childhood-onset disease in which the immune system destroys the beta cells of the pancreas, which are responsible for making insulin. Human leukocyte antibody (HLA) genes play a large part in how the immune system distinguishes self from non-self and people with certain variants of this gene have a higher risk of developing of type 1 diabetes. The authors of the latest report showed that, for children carrying these HLA variants, that risk is also linked with how their bodies react to commensal ...