"IMMUNE TOLERANCE"

Dr. Tony Jevnikar says the drive to continue his research endeavours in the field of immunology comes from knowing that the current choices given to patients are far from perfect.

Dr. Jevnikar, alongside a team of scientists which included Dr. B. Singh, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, UWO, is involved in research that may someday lead to a vaccination against diabetes and other auto-immune diseases such as lupus and rheumatoid arthritis.

"We have made significant progress in the development of tools for genetic alternation and exploration. Even those in science are in awe. But the strength of our lab is that the tools don't replace the science," says Dr. Jevnikar, a nephrologist at LHSC's University Campus since 1991.

Dr. Jevnikar's laboratory housed at the RRI is supported by peer-reviewed grants and LHSC. Specifically, Dr. Jevnikar is studying the role of various proteins in both lupus and diabetes. Researchers have learned that the genes and proteins that allow the immune system to target the kidneys and cause kidney failure in patients with lupus are very similar to those linked to diabetes. Dr. Jevnikar, and his team, are currently conducting research using mice that are genetically altered to develop lupus. Using a molecular approach, he has been able to alter them so that they do not get the disease.

"We now have an understanding of how certain proteins function in the disease. We are able to identify the molecules we think are important within the kidneys of these mice and Dr. Zhong then transplants these kidneys into other mice. Eventually, if we appreciate which molecules and proteins are absolutely essential in lupus research, at some point in the future we may be able to extend these studies to patients," says Dr. Jevnikar.

The lupus research directly impacts research into other diseases, such as diabetes, as there are many common themes in autoimmunity research. Using non-obese diabetic mice who have spontaneously developed the disease, Dr. Jevnikar and his team have been able to genetically alter the mice so that they don't get the disease This is done by getting the mice to eat GAD, a protein expressed within the pancreas by insulin-producing cells. The research is based on the phenomenon called oral tolerance.
"Oral tolerance allows the body to alter its immune responses to the things we eat. It helps explain the fact that people generally have very few allergic reactions to the 65,000-plus proteins typically ingested. For the past five years or so, researchers have been focusing on this phenomenon and its potential application to immune diseases," says Dr. Jevnikar.

In the case of diabetes, the challenge facing researchers is that it is difficult to make GAD. Efforts to do so are currently taking place and are supported and encouraged by LHSC.

"Our goal is to find a way to do this as a preventive strategy to be used by those at high risk of developing diabetes. It's as close to an apple a day keeps the doctor away as you get," says an enthusiastic Dr. Jevnikar.