Antigen-specific immunotherapy for autoimmune diseases (ASIT)

Interviewer: We are joined today by Professor David Cameron Wraith from the Department of immunology and Immunotherapy at the University of Birmingham in the UK to review some of the key advancements that were made in the past year or so, in the field of autoimmunity and related immunotherapy. Professor Wraith, thank you very much for joining us today. Prof. Wraith: Thank you, Eyal. Interviewer: Looking back at the past 6-12 months or so, can you share with us the key advancements and breakthroughs in autoimmunity research, and how do these advancements potentially impact the treatment options available for patients with autoimmune conditions? Prof. Wraith: Sure. It's a great pleasure to talk, and I'd really like to break down these advances into four categories. The first is in pathology, and I think a key advance in autoimmune disease research has been the use of genomics and immunomics to more clearly define the range of immune pathologies that we currently consider under the umbrella of single diseases. For example, if you look at rheumatoid arthritis, there are patients with pathology driven largely by innate immune mechanisms and others with clear involvement of the adaptive immune system. We see this by the appearance of disease-related antibodies such as rheumatoid factor and anti-citrullinated peptide antibodies. This has important implications for treatment of patients.