Genetics’ role in immunity highlighted
Friday January 6th, 2017
Human immune systems are largely shaped by genetics - and very individualised, according to the findings of a major project unveiled yesterday.
The
study by academics at King's College London, UK, published in Nature
Communications, adds to evidence that demonstrates almost three-quarters
of immune traits are influenced by genes – significantly higher than
previously thought.
These findings could lead to greater understanding of the immune system and the interaction of environmental factors, they say.
The King’s researchers, with the NIHR Biomedical Research Centre at Guy's and St Thomas' Foundation Trust and King's College London, analysed 23,000 immune traits in 497 adult female twins from the TwinsUK cohort.
They found that adaptive immune traits, the more complex responses that develop after exposure to specific pathogens, such as chickenpox, are mostly influenced by genetics.
The team also revealed the importance of environmental influences such as diet, on shaping the innate immunity in adult life.
Massimo Mangino, lead researcher from King's College London, said the findings could form the basis of further research into treatments for diseases, including rheumatoid arthritis and psoriasis.
“Our genetic analysis resulted in some unusual findings, where adaptive immune responses, which are far more complex in nature, appear to be more influenced by variations in the genome than we had previously thought,” he said.
“In contrast, variation in innate responses (the simple non-specific immune response) more often arose from environmental differences. This discovery could have a significant impact in treating a number of autoimmune diseases.”
Professor Tim Spector, director of the TwinsUK Registry at King's College London, added: “Our results surprisingly showed how most immune responses are genetic, very personalised and finely tuned.
"What this means is that we are likely to respond in a very individualised way to an infection such as a virus - or an allergen such as a house dust mite causing asthma. This may have big implications for future personalised therapy.”
Mangino M, Roederer M, Beddall M et al. Innate and Adaptive Immune Traits are Differentially affected by Genetic and Environmental Factors. Nature Communications 5 January, 2017; doi:10.1038/ncomms13850.
Tags: General Health | Genetics | UK News
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