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Autoimmune Diseases: From Pathogenesis to Treatment and Prognostic Markers
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Autoimmune Diseases: From Pathogenesis to Treatment and Prognostic Markers

A special issue of International Journal of Molecular Sciences (ISSN 1422-0067). This special issue belongs to the section "Molecular Immunology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 July 2025 | Viewed by 2110

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Alessandra Bettiol

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Experimental and Clinical Biomedical Sciences “Mario Serio”, University of Firenze, 50134 Firenze, Italy
Interests: autoimmune diseases; vasculitis; oxidative stress; biochemistry and pathogenesis; clinical trials; pharmacology

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue aims to gather new insights into the pathogenesis, diagnosis, monitoring, and treatment of autoimmune diseases. Autoimmune diseases include a wide spectrum of rare and non-rare disorders, characterized by an altered immune response involving virtually any organ and system.

The pathogenesis of autoimmune diseases is multifactorial, and includes genetic, epigenetic, environmental, infective, and immunological factors.

Autoantibodies are critical in the pathogenetic process, and can serve as valuable markers for the diagnosis, classification, and monitoring of disease activity. Autoantibodies can be detected years before the clinical onset of disease, providing a window for early diagnosis and preventive approaches. Concomitantly, other immune cell subtypes (such as T cells, neutrophils, etc.) play key parts in the pathogenesis of autoimmune disorders, although their assessment as diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers is usually more challenging.

Greater knowledge about the molecular mechanisms underlying autoimmunity may help to set up preventive strategies and targeted therapeutic approaches.

This Special Issue welcomes articles addressing, but not limited to, the following themes:

  • Genetic, epigenetic, and environmental factors underlying autoimmune diseases, including the role of the microbiome;
  • Dynamics of immune cell subsets in the pathogenesis of autoimmune diseases;
  • The role of autoantibodies and alternative biomarkers in the diagnosis, monitoring, and prognosis of autoimmune diseases;
  • Preventive approaches for autoimmune diseases;
  • Novel and selective therapeutic strategies for the treatment of autoimmune diseases.

This Special Issue accepts original research articles, clinical trials, reviews, systematic reviews and meta-analyses, case reports, and case series.

Dr. Alessandra Bettiol
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. International Journal of Molecular Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. There is an Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal. For details about the APC please see here. Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • autoimmune diseases
  • inflammation
  • immunity
  • pathogenesis
  • immunosuppressants
  • biologics
  • biomarkers

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Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

17 pages, 3492 KiB  
Article
Similarity to Self-Antigens Shapes Epitope Recognition from Viruses Under Autoimmune and Infectious Disease
by Alvaro Ras-Carmona, Alexander Lehmann and Pedro A. Reche
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2025, 26(13), 6041; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms26136041 - 24 Jun 2025
Viewed by 324
Abstract
Self/non-self-discrimination is a fundamental aspect of adaptive immunity, which helps prevent harmful autoimmune responses. However, infectious agents can also act as environmental catalysts for autoimmune diseases. In this study, we investigated the role of molecular mimicry to self-antigens in epitope recognition in relation [...] Read more.
Self/non-self-discrimination is a fundamental aspect of adaptive immunity, which helps prevent harmful autoimmune responses. However, infectious agents can also act as environmental catalysts for autoimmune diseases. In this study, we investigated the role of molecular mimicry to self-antigens in epitope recognition in relation to infectious and autoimmune diseases. To this end, we performed BLAST searches against the human proteome, utilizing known virus-specific B and T cell peptide epitopes identified in association with autoimmune or infectious diseases in humans as our queries. Additionally, similar control analyses were carried out using non-B and non-T cell epitopes, consisting of random viral peptide sequences. Overall, our results endorsed a major role of molecular mimicry in instigating or sustaining autoimmunity associated with viral infections and challenged the prevailing view on self/non-self-discrimination for T cells. Additionally, we uncovered many virus-specific epitopes among those identified in association with infectious diseases with high similarity to self-antigens, which are primarily derived from human coronaviruses and various flaviviruses. Recognition of these epitopes could lead to autoimmunity against human proteins that are in cellular components concerning cell motility, cell membrane projections, and cellular synapses. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Autoimmune Diseases: From Pathogenesis to Treatment and Prognostic Markers)
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27 pages, 5833 KiB  
Article
Investigating the Role of Gut Microbiota in the Pathogenesis and Progression of Rheumatoid Arthritis in a Collagen-Induced Arthritis Mouse Model
by Paulína Belvončíková, Kristína Macáková, Nikola Tóthová, Pavel Babál, Lenka Tarabčáková and Roman Gardlík
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2025, 26(11), 5099; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms26115099 - 26 May 2025
Viewed by 611
Abstract
Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic systemic autoimmune disorder whose precise etiology remains unclear, though growing evidence implicates gut microbiota in its pathogenesis. This study aimed to investigate the role of gut microbiota in the onset and progression of RA by employing fecal [...] Read more.
Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic systemic autoimmune disorder whose precise etiology remains unclear, though growing evidence implicates gut microbiota in its pathogenesis. This study aimed to investigate the role of gut microbiota in the onset and progression of RA by employing fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) in a collagen-induced arthritis (CIA) mouse model using DBA/1J and Aire−/− strains. Mice received FMT from healthy donors, treatment-naïve RA patients, or treated RA patients in relapse, followed by assessment of microbiota composition via 16S rRNA sequencing, arthritis severity scoring, histological evaluations, and systemic inflammatory markers. The findings revealed distinct microbiota clustering patterns post-FMT across experimental groups, highlighting strain-specific colonization effects. Notably, genera such as Bifidobacterium and Paraprevotella correlated positively with arthritis severity in DBA/1J mice, whereas Corynebacterium, Enterorhabdus, and Odoribacter exhibited negative correlations, suggesting potential protective roles. Despite these microbial differences, minor variations in arthritis scores, paw inflammation, or systemic inflammation were observed among FMT groups. This indicates that although gut microbiota alterations are associated with RA pathogenesis, further investigation with larger cohorts and comprehensive sequencing approaches is essential to elucidate the therapeutic potential of microbiome modulation in autoimmune diseases. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Autoimmune Diseases: From Pathogenesis to Treatment and Prognostic Markers)
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18 pages, 2496 KiB  
Article
IgA Antibodies to Bovine Serum Albumin in Adult Patients with Celiac Disease
by Elena Savvateeva, Marina Yukina, Nurana Nuralieva, Svetlana Bykova, Ivan Abramov, Vera Polyakova, Natalia Bodunova, Maxim Donnikov, Lyudmila Kovalenko, Elena Mazurenko, Elizaveta Pavlova, Elena Kulagina, Ekaterina Troshina and Dmitry Gryadunov
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2025, 26(11), 4988; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms26114988 - 22 May 2025
Viewed by 700
Abstract
This study investigated the IgA antibodies targeting bovine serum albumin (BSA) in 27 adult celiac disease (CD) patients adhering to a gluten-free diet (GFD), compared to 123 controls (including individuals with autoimmune disorders, those with gastrointestinal cancers, and healthy donors). Serum samples were [...] Read more.
This study investigated the IgA antibodies targeting bovine serum albumin (BSA) in 27 adult celiac disease (CD) patients adhering to a gluten-free diet (GFD), compared to 123 controls (including individuals with autoimmune disorders, those with gastrointestinal cancers, and healthy donors). Serum samples were evaluated using a multiplex assay based on a microarray comprising 66 immobilized antigens, including autoantigens associated with autoimmune diseases, different albumins, cytokines, and inflammatory markers. Elevated IgA-BSA levels were detected in 22% of CD patients versus 3.25% of controls. IgA-BSA did not cross-react with milk proteins like casein, β-lactoglobulin, and γ-globulin, nor with autoantigens and human albumin, ruling out autoimmunity against self-proteins. The observed cross-reactivity with porcine albumin suggests that antibodies target epitopes shared by bovine and porcine albumin. Increased IgA-BSA levels may interfere with immunoassays performed using BSA as a stabilizer, necessitating protein-free buffers to avoid false results when testing CD patients. Elevated IgA-BSA levels may reflect ongoing gut barrier dysfunction in CD patients on a GFD, allowing dietary proteins like BSA to trigger immune responses. This study identifies a novel immune response in CD patients on a GFD, emphasizing the need for tailored diagnostic approaches (BSA-free assays) and further research into the clinical and dietary implications of IgA-BSA elevation. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Autoimmune Diseases: From Pathogenesis to Treatment and Prognostic Markers)
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