Treating T-cell mediated autoimmunity with vaccines containing sole anti-inflammatory adjuvants

What is it about?

T-cell mediated autoimmune diseases are characterized by a damaging Th1/Th17 inflammatory response against normal or self-antigens, leading to organ destruction. While it is possible to prevent this damaging immunoresponse by blocking key mediators in the inflammatory cascade, the resulting global immune suppression leaves the body defenseless against infectious agents and cancer. Hence, a safer and effective approach would be to change the immunoresponse against self-antigens from an inflammatory Th1/Th17 to a sole Th2 anti-inflammatory one. In fact, several studies have shown that people infected by helminths have a lower incidence of autoimmune conditions; apparently, the result of the parasite modulating the host’s immunity toward an anti-inflammatory one by acting on the dendritic cells. But, the scarcity of effective Th2 adjuvants has hindered the development of these vaccines. A situation that may change, since the discovery that some fucosyl glycosides mimics the helminths’ immunomodulation, biasing the response toward a milder and safer systemic Th2 immunity, this way preventing tissue/organ damage. Use of vaccines containing a self-antigen plus this new immunomodulator, would change the immune response for an antigen toward an anti-inflammatory one, this way averting organ damage, but without a global immune suppression. Hence, these vaccines may be used to prevent and treat T-cell mediated autoimmune conditions.

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Why is it important?

It is evident that improvements in public health and hygiene has resulted in eradication of many parasitic infections, a change that has resulted in a significant increase in autoimmune conditions, which largely affects the most developed countries. Since autoimmune conditions leads frequently to organs’ destruction and incapacitating diseases, it is critical to develop new methods to treat these conditions that do not immune suppress the individual. Indeed, global immune suppression would allow for the increase of infectious diseases as well as cancer. Thus, the use of a targeted vaccines directed against specific antigens, would allow safe preventive and treatment of these conditions.

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