Intestinal microenvironment and autoimmune diseases

The pathogenesis of autoimmune diseases is complex, especially the initiating factors of the pathogenesis, which are the key points that scientific researchers have been committed to researching. Some autoimmune diseases have definite autoantigens, but the exact cause cannot be found in most cases. The intestine contains up to 60–70% of peripheral immune cells in the entire body and is the main site of interaction with a large number of microorganisms. The interaction between immune cells and microorganisms and the damage of the intestinal barrier, which may lead to the translocation of microbes, may be involved in the occurrence of autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis and Retinitis pigmentosa. The specific intestinal pathogenic factors and the specific pathways leading to autoimmune diseases are not clear. This Research Topic is committed to searching for intestinal-specific pathogenic factors and mechanisms of autoimmune diseases and exploring differences and similarities of gut microenvironment between different autoimmune diseases to explore the intestinal mechanisms of comorbidities of different autoimmune diseases, as well as to explore the role of diet and other activities to regulate the intestinal microenvironment and autoimmune diseases. 

Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:
1. Changes in intestinal microenvironment, including microbe metabolites in autoimmune diseases
2. Mechanism of intestinal microenvironment in the pathogenesis of autoimmune diseases
3. the association between the intestinal microenvironment and the clinical characteristics of autoimmune diseases
4. the association between the intestinal microenvironment and complications of autoimmune diseases
5. the influence or regulation of diet on the intestinal microenvironment and autoimmune diseases
6. the treatment of autoimmune disease by regulating the intestinal microenvironment

Keywords: autoimmune diseases

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