Project Materials

A CRITICAL EXAMINATION OF AUTOIMMUNITY AND INFLAMMATION

ABSTRACT

Autoinflammatory and autoimmune illnesses are defined by abnormal alterations in innate and adaptive immunity, which can progress from an initial inflammatory state to organ-specific damage. These illnesses vary in terms of affected organs and clinical characteristics. Despite their differences in aetiology and phenotypic characteristics, they share genetic associations, treatment responses, and clinical manifestations. The mechanisms involved in their initiation and development are still unknown, but the presence of some clear similarities between autoimmune and autoinflammatory disorders suggests varying degrees of interaction between immune-related mechanisms. The purpose of this study was to critically examine autoimmunity and inflammation. The study conducted a meta-analysis of publicly available gene expression datasets generated from peripheral blood mononuclear cells using a bioinformatics pipeline that integrates Self Organising Maps and Pathway Signal Flow algorithms, as well as KEGG pathway topologies, to assess the similarities and specificities of pathway activity changes in twelve autoimmune and autoinflammatory disorders. The findings show that clinically distinct illness groups exhibit similar pathway disruption characteristics. Thus, the data imply that, while activation of common inflammatory pathways affects all of the examined disorders, there are also disease-specific alterations in their relative balance.