Yehuda Shoenfeld
PROF. SHOENFELD YEHUDA, MD.,FRCP, MaACR
Zabludowicz Center for Autoimmune Diseases, Sheba Medical Center (Affiliated to Tel-Aviv University)
Incumbent of the Laura Schwarz-Kipp Chair for Research of Autoimmune Diseases, Tel-Aviv University, Israel.
Head: The Mosaic of Autoimmunity Project of Saint Petersbug University
Topic
"The mosaic of autoimmunity; The role of genetics and environmental factors and especially microbiome"
Autoimmune diseases are conditions in which the immune system damages normal components of the individual. Thus autoantibodies productions were found to be multifactorial in their etiology. For practical reasons these factors are classified into four categories:
Genetic, which entail the MHC class I, II, and III. A case in point will be the haplotypes of HLA-DRB1 which are prevalent in many classical diseases.
Immune deficiencies: C1q C2, C4 and IgA deficiencies are among the most common defects associated with diverse autoimmune conditions.
Hormonal state, most autoimmune diseases are detected in females at the child bearing ages. The role of estrogens will be delineated. In addition other hormones play a role i.e. prolactin.
Emergence environmental causes: Those are the most important as a trigger factors (i.e. adjuvants) determining the time and type of disease. They entail infectious agents, chemicals, drugs and even vaccines.
The type of disease in an individual, in an autoimmune prone family, will be determined by the specific combination of the different factors mentioned above.
A special emphasis will be put on the microbiome interaction with component of parasites.
References:
1) Shoenfled Y, et al. The mosaic of autoimmunity. IAMJ 2008; 10; pp. 3-7; 8-12; 13-19.
2) Yaxiong Deng, Xin Huang, HaijingWu, Ming Zhao, Qianjin Lu, Eitan Israeli, Shani Dahan, Miri Blank, Yehuda Shoenfel. Some like it hot: The emerging role of spicy food (capsaicin) in 3 autoimmune diseases. Autoimmunity Reviews 2016; 15(5): 451-456.
3) Carlo Perricone, Mathilde Versini, Dana Ben-Ami, Smadar Gertel, AbdullaWatad, Michael J. Segel, Fulvia Ceccarelli, Fabrizio Conti, Luca Cantarini, Dimitrios P. Bogdanosi, Alessandro Antonelli, Howard Amital, Guido Valesini, Yehuda Shoenfeld. Smoke and autoimmunity: The fire behind the disease. Autoimmunity Reviews 2016; 15: 354–374.
4) Katchan V, David P, Shoenfeld Y. Cannabinoids and autoimmune diseases: A systematic review. Autoimmunity Reviews 2016; 15: 513–528.
Biography
Yehuda Shoenfeld was the head of the Department of Medicine from 1984 until March 2011. He founded and today heads the Center for Autoimmune Diseases since 1984, at the largest hospital in Israel- the Sheba Medical Center, which is affiliated to the Sackler Faculty of Medicine in Tel-Aviv University, in which Dr. Shoenfeld is the Incumbent of the Laura Schwarz-Kipp Chair for Research of Autoimmune Diseases. His clinical and scientific works focus on autoimmune /rheumatic diseases, and he has published more than 1600 papers in journals such as New Eng J Med, Nature, Lancet, Proc Nat Acad Scie, Nature, J Clin Invest, J Immunol, Blood, FASEB, J Exp Med, Circulation, Cancer and others. He has authored and edited 25 books, some of which became cornerstones in science and clinical practice, such as "The Mosaic of Autoimmunity", "Infections and Autoimmunity", the textbooks "Autoantibodies", and "Criteria for diagnosis of autoimmune diseases", which were sold by the thousands. He is on the editorial board of 43 journals in the field of rheumatology, and autoimmunity and is the founder and the Editor of the "IMAJ" (Israel Medical Association Journal, 1997) the representative journal of science and medicine in the English language in Israel and also is the founder and eitor of the "Autoimmunity Reviews" (Elsevier, 2001, IF=6.5), and co-edtor of "Journal of Autoimmunity" (IF=9.2). He has written more than three hundred and fifty book chapters. For the last 20 years he is the editor of "Harefuah" – the Israel journal in medicine (Hebrew).
Research Interests
Autoimmune diseases are characterised by the occurrence of antibodies reacting with self-constituents of the body. The fully updated third edition of Autoantibodies is an in-depth review of the main autoantibodies identified up to now, with particular emphasis on those that display a diagnostic or prognostic clinical value. The new edition covers recent scientific advances, diagnostic techniques, and therapeutic technologies. Each chapter is focused on a single family of autoantibodies. This important reference contains historical notes, definitions, origins and sources of antigens recognised genetic associations, mediated pathogenic mechanisms, methods of detection, as well as clinical utility (disease prevalence and association, diagnostic value, sensitivity and specificity, prognostic value). This is an ideal reference for anyone involved in the field of autoimmune diseases.
