Conducted by researchers at the University of Montana’s Center for Environmental Health Sciences, the study evaluated 50 residents from Libby, Montana – a town polluted by asbestos – and found them much more likely to have a class of autoantibodies (proteins that the body mistakenly unleashes against its own tissue) in their blood than a control group from a nearby unpolluted town. In fact, researchers found these autoantibodies, know as antinuclear antibodies (ANAs), occurred 28.6% more frequently in the Libby patient group than in the control group. Presence of these ANAs is often found in people whose immune systems may be predisposed to developing autoimmune disease. Based on the results of this small-scale study, the University of Montana researchers intend to embark on a larger-scale study to determine the extent to which these increased ANA levels have resulted in actual autoimmune disease among the Libby population.

While the hereditary aspect of autoimmune disease is well known, until recently the environmental triggers have been less well understood, according to Betty Diamond, MD, Chair of AARDA’s Scientific Advisory Board and Professor of Microbiology and Medicine, Columbia University Medical Center.

“This small, but provocative study is a first step in helping the biomedical research community to identify and better understand one potential environmental trigger for autoimmune disease,” said Dr. Diamond adding, “We look forward to hearing the results of the planned larger scale study.”

She said this new study, coupled with a recent Johns Hopkins University study linking excessive iodine ingestion to a specific autoimmune disease (Hashimoto’s thyroiditis), “highlights the need for more research to determine whether a number of suspected environmental factors trigger autoimmunity.”

There are more than 80 and another 40 suspected autoimmune diseases. They all share the same underlying cause – autoimmunity, the process by which the body’s immune system turns on itself, attacking healthy organs, tissues and cells. Approximately 50 million Americans suffer from one or more autoimmune diseases. Of those, nearly 75 percent – or roughly 30 million – are women. Autoimmune diseases include lupus, multiple sclerosis, juvenile diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, scleroderma, antiphospholipid syndrome (APS), Crohn’s disease, Sjögren’s disease and Graves’ disease.

American Autoimmune Related Diseases Association (AARDA) is the nation’s only organization dedicated to bringing a national focus to autoimmunity as a disease category and supporting a collaborative research in order to find better treatments and a cure for all autoimmune diseases.

For more information, please visit www.aarda.org. - # # # -