The autoimmune ecology: an update

Area of Science:

• Immunology
• Environmental Health
• Metabolomics

Background:

• Autoimmune diseases arise from interactions between individuals and their environment, disrupting immune tolerance.
• The exposome concept highlights the cumulative environmental exposures influencing health and disease.
• Metabolomics provides insights into the biochemical changes associated with environmental factors and disease.

Purpose of the Study:

• To update the understanding of four environmental factors: vitamin D, smoking, alcohol, and coffee consumption.
• To examine these factors from the perspective of exposome and metabolomics in relation to autoimmune diseases.
• To review current evidence on the association between these environmental exposures and various autoimmune conditions.

Main Methods:

• Review of recent scientific literature on environmental factors and autoimmune diseases.
• Analysis of studies incorporating exposome and metabolomics approaches.
• Synthesis of findings on the impact of vitamin D, smoking, alcohol, and coffee on immune tolerance.

Main Results:

• Smoking is linked to an increased risk of most autoimmune diseases, with carbamylation and NETosis as potential mechanisms.
• Low-to-moderate alcohol consumption may reduce the risk of systemic lupus erythematosus and rheumatoid arthritis.
• Vitamin D appears to have a beneficial effect, while coffee intake is a risk factor for type 1 diabetes and rheumatoid arthritis, but protective for multiple sclerosis and primary biliary cholangitis.

Conclusions:

• Environmental factors significantly influence the development of autoimmune diseases.
• Further research using metabolomics, proteomics, and genomics is needed to fully elucidate the environmental impact on autoimmune diseases.
• Understanding the autoimmune ecology is crucial for developing targeted prevention and treatment strategies.