Could Autoimmune Disease Be Reset Instead of Managed?

For many years, autoimmune diseases have been treated by calming down the immune system. Medications can reduce inflammation and symptoms, but they usually need to be taken continuously because the immune system still recognizes the body as a threat.

Recent research has begun exploring a different idea: instead of suppressing immunity, doctors may be able to reset it.

Rheumatologist Georg Schett, a Walter and Jean Boek Leadership in Research Award recipient, reported patients with severe autoimmune diseases entering long-lasting remission after targeted cell therapies that remove the specific immune B cells driving disease. In some cases, once these harmful cells were eliminated and the immune system rebuilt itself, it stopped attacking the same tissues without ongoing medication. The results suggested the immune response had been re-trained rather than simply turned down.

Physician-scientist Eric Topol later highlighted the broader importance of these findings, describing a shift from managing autoimmune disease to correcting the immune mistake itself. He outlined two emerging approaches: engineered immune cell therapies that selectively eliminate autoreactive immune cells, and tolerance-inducing therapies designed to teach the immune system that certain proteins belong to the body and should not trigger an attack.