Russian and European geneticists have found out that changes in the human genome that appeared in the past to fight the immune system against dangerous infections contribute to the development of asthma, type I diabetes, psoriasis and other allergies and autoimmune diseases. This information can be used to create new therapies. This has been reported by the TASS News Agency, concerning the Press Service of the ITMO University (Saint Petersburg, Russia).

“Instead of disabling certain important elements of the immune system, in the future it is necessary to work with factors that destabilize it and “activate” diseases”, said Bayazit Yunusbayev, a researcher at the Chemical and Biological Cluster of ITMO University.

The cause of the development of diseases such as lupus, psoriasis and type I diabetes is a malfunction of the immune system, due to which cells begin to attack organs and tissues. Patients are forced to take anti-inflammatory drugs and some components of the immune system all their lives, as researchers do not yet know how to treat such diseases.

Scientists decided to find out what evolutionary factors that influenced the life of our ancestors could contribute to the development of such features in the structure of the genes of the immune system. To do this, they analyzed the information collected in Estonia when compiling the Estonian Biobank genomic database. 

More than 200 thousand residents of Estonia took part in the preparation of the base, who agreed to donate their DNA and undergo a medical examination. Scientists have studied the history of the evolution of over 500 DNA regions, presumably associated with the development of 20 autoimmune and allergic diseases. Many scientists suggest that the high human susceptibility to these diseases is caused by the fact that the associated gene variations that increase the activity of immunity helped our ancestors to survive in the distant past. Analysis of the Estonian Biobank database data confirmed this hypothesis. It turned out that over 30 percent of the studied variations in the structure of genes associated with the development of autoimmune diseases appeared in the human gene pool as a result of natural selection aimed at improving the ability of the human body to resist infections.

Understanding this, scientists hope, will help create new approaches for the treatment of asthma, psoriasis and other autoimmune and allergic diseases.

Roman Bondarchuk, UzA