Friendly pathogens: prevent or provoke autoimmunity

The gut microflora is an immense health asset for human beings. The mammalian gut harbors trillions of commensals. These microbes not only modulate local but also systemic immunity. Recently, various reports are evolving, which signify that the gut microbes can modulate, tune and tame the host immune response. Consequently, it advocates the significance of the microbial composition. Further, the microbiota provides a fine equilibrium to host by regulating immune homeostasis. Furthermore, disturbance in this population can incite imbalance in immune system, leading to molecular mimicry and therefore autoimmunity. Hence, it is imperative to understand the influence of these bugs in preventing or provoking immune system against the self-components. In this article, we highlight the interaction between different gut microbes and cells of immune system and the mechanism involved in controlling and curtailing various autoimmune diseases.