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. 2019 May 28:1:100003.
doi: 10.1016/j.jtauto.2019.100003. eCollection 2019 Apr.

Immunodietica: A data-driven approach to investigate interactions between diet and autoimmune disorders

Iosif M Gershteyn  1   2 , Leonardo M R Ferreira  1   3   4
Affiliations

Immunodietica: A data-driven approach to investigate interactions between diet and autoimmune disorders

Iosif M Gershteyn et al. J Transl Autoimmun. .

Abstract

Autoimmunity is on the rise around the globe. Diet has been proposed as a risk factor for autoimmunity and shown to modulate the severity of several autoimmune disorders. Yet, the interaction between diet and autoimmunity in humans remains largely unstudied. Here, we systematically interrogated commonly consumed animals and plants for peptide epitopes previously implicated in human autoimmune disease. A total of fourteen species investigated could be divided into three broad categories regarding their content in human autoimmune epitopes, which we represented using a new metric, the Gershteyn-Ferreira index (GF index). Strikingly, pig contains a disproportionately high number of unique autoimmune epitopes compared to all other species analyzed. This work uncovers a potential new link between pork consumption and autoimmunity in humans and lays the foundation for future studies on the impact of diet on the pathogenesis and progression of autoimmune disorders.

Keywords: Autoimmunity; Cross-reactivity; Diet; Epitopes; Gershteyn-Ferreira index.

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Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Global Gershteyn-Ferreira (GF) index for different species. Species are colored according to food group: red meat, poultry, fish, and cereals. The global GF index ranges between 0 and 1 for the analyzed species. Rye and wheat have very low non-zero GF indices.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Shared epitopes per autoimmune disease. Autoimmune diseases are listed on the y axis and analyzed species on the x axis.
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Unique epitopes per autoimmune disease. Autoimmune diseases are listed on the y axis and analyzed species on the x axis.
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Tissue expression pattern of unique multiple sclerosis epitopes found in pig. Tissues are listed on the x axis and number of unique MS epitopes in pig on the y axis. CNS, central nervous system; PNS, peripheral nervous system.
Fig. 5
Fig. 5
Autoimmune unique Gershteyn-Ferreira (GF) index. Species are colored according to food group: red meat, poultry, fish, and cereals. The autoimmune unique GF index ranges between 0 and 1.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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