Expert Panel Workshop Consensus Statement on the Role of the Environment in the Development of Autoimmune Disease

International Journal of Molecular Sciences

Christine G. Parks²  Frederick W. Miller⁴  Kenneth Michael Pollard³  Carlo Selmi¹  Dori Germolec⁶  Kelly Joyce⁷  Noel R. Rose⁵ 

[1] Division of Rheumatology, Allergy and Clinical Immunology, University of California, Davis, CA 95616, USA; E-Mail:;Epidemiology Branch, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), National Institutes of Health (NIH), Research Triangle Park, NC 27709, USA;Department of Molecular and Experimental Medicine, the Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, CA 92037, USA; E-Mail:;Environmental Autoimmunity Group, NIEHS, NIH, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA; E-Mail:;John Hopkins Center for Autoimmune Disease Research, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA; E-Mail:;National Toxicology Program, NIEHS, NIH, Morrisville, NC 27560, USA; E-Mail:;Department of History and Politics, Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA; E-Mail:

关键词: National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (U.S.);    consensus;    autoimmune diseases;    mechanisms;    environmental exposures;    epidemiology;    exposure assessment;   

DOI  :  10.3390/ijms150814269

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

Autoimmune diseases include 80 or more complex disorders characterized by self-reactive, pathologic immune responses in which genetic susceptibility is largely insufficient to determine disease onset. In September 2010, the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) organized an expert panel workshop to evaluate the role of environmental factors in autoimmune diseases, and the state of the science regarding relevant mechanisms, animal models, and human studies. The objective of the workshop was to analyze the existing data to identify conclusions that could be drawn regarding environmental exposures and autoimmunity and to identify critical knowledge gaps and areas of uncertainty for future study. This consensus document summarizes key findings from published workshop monographs on areas in which “confident” and “likely” assessments were made, with recommendations for further research. Transcribed notes and slides were reviewed to synthesize an overview on exposure assessment and questions addressed by interdisciplinary panels. Critical advances in the field of autoimmune disease research have been made in the past decade. Collaborative translational and interdisciplinary research is needed to elucidate the role of environmental factors in autoimmune diseases. A focus on exposure assessment methodology is needed to improve the effectiveness of human studies, and more experimental studies are needed to focus on causal mechanisms underlying observed associations of environmental factors with autoimmune disease in humans.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© 2014 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.