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Updated: May 27, 2026

Murine Model of Epicutaneously-Induced Immunomodulation

Murine Model of Epicutaneously-Induced Immunomodulation

Published on: June 24, 2025

Hygiene hypothesis and autoimmune diseases.

Graham A W Rook¹

¹Department of Infection, Centre for Clinical Microbiology, University College London (UCL), London, UK. g.rook@ucl.ac.uk

Clinical Reviews in Allergy & Immunology

|November 18, 2011

Summary

Modern environments lack "Old Friends" microbes, crucial for immune system regulation. This depletion contributes to rising autoimmune diseases like Type 1 diabetes and multiple sclerosis.

Area of Science:

Immunology
Environmental Health
Epidemiology

Background:

Rising incidences of chronic inflammatory and autoimmune disorders observed in developed nations during the 20th century.
Conditions include Type 1 diabetes and multiple sclerosis, suggesting environmental factors beyond genetics.
Rapid increases indicate that genetic factors alone cannot explain the observed trends.

Purpose of the Study:

To propose an integrated hypothesis for the rise in autoimmune diseases.
To identify a missing environmental factor crucial for immunoregulatory mechanisms.
To connect disparate hypotheses like the hygiene hypothesis and gut microbiota research under a unified concept.

Main Methods:

Conceptual integration of existing hypotheses.

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Literature review and synthesis of environmental and immunological data.

Development of the

Main Results:

Suggests a depletion of co-evolved microbes (

Conclusions:

The loss of