Researchers at the Medical University Karolinska Institutet in Sweden have discovered a new mechanism to control our immune system. The discovery is of potential importance for the treatment of serious diseases such as MS () and LES (erythematous).‘This means that new treatments that specifically target NKT cells can protect this group of patients,’ says Karlsson.
‘We have demonstrated that NKT cells can regulate how B cells are activated against healthy tissue, and the lack of NKT cells results in increased activation of B cells lost,’ says Karlsson. ‘So now we are able to mechanically connect the lack of NKT cells in patients with the disease.’
The study also showed that defective NKT cells directly affect the activation of B cells, and do so early in the process wrong. The team was able to inhibit the activity of pathogenic B cells with the addition of NKT cells – a discovery that could one day lead to new types of treatment.
An important component of our defense is a type of immune cells called B cells normally, the work of these cells is to produce antibodies that bind to and neutralize transforming invasive microorganisms such as bacteria and viruses. In people with autoimmune diseases, says Dr Karlsson, these B cells that have a negative effect and instead of serving the body, are activated against its own tissues, where they begin to break down.