Genetics could be key to understanding autoimmune diseases, says professor

GENETIC CLUES could hold the key to understanding auto-immune conditions where the body attacks its own tissues, according to an expert who is visiting Ireland this week.

Looking at genetic variations can help identify what drives the process in patients with auto-immune conditions, which include lupus, multiple sclerosis and certain types of arthritis, said Prof Robert Winchester, who chairs the division of rheumatology at Columbia University's department of medicine.

"Genetics is leading us to identify what the immune system is really responding to," said Prof Winchester, who on Saturday received an honorary fellowship from the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland (RCPI) - the highest honour bestowed by the college.

Prof Winchester's work has furthered our understanding of the immune system and conditions including Aids and lupus, and he has a long-standing collaboration with Prof Oliver FitzGerald and Prof Barry Bresnihan at St Vincent's University Hospital in Dublin, where they look at a type of arthritis associated with psoriasis.

"Psoriatic arthritis is really a complex, heterogeneous disease and this may go some degree to explain why response to drugs is difficult to predict - one may have a good response to modern drugs or you may find a lack of responsiveness, so we are trying to understand the heterogeneity," he said.

Genetic variations that make people more susceptible to such autoimmune conditions are like "glass slippers" that could tell researchers more about why the immune system fails to recognise the body's own tissues as "self", he explained.

"We hope the physicians doing the research are much like Prince Charming and this glass slipper is the only clue to find the Cinderella - the driving force behind the whole autoimmune process," he said.

Prof Winchester said he was "deeply honoured, impressed and taken aback" to be nominated for honorary fellowship by the RCPI. The award is reserved for world leaders of medical science and exceptional contributors to the welfare of communities. Previous recipients include Presidents Mary McAleese and Patrick Hillery, Nobel laureate John Hume and pioneering HIV researcher Bob Gallo.