Research on Autoimmune Diseases in Laboratory and Companion Animals

Dear Colleagues,

A loss of self-tolerance and subsequent autoimmune attacks against specific body tissues characterise autoimmune disorders. Under conditions of overactivity in the immune system, our bodies attack and damage our own tissues (autoimmune disease). These diseases are often identified by the presence of autoantibodies and autoreactive T/B cells. There are more than 80 clinically different autoimmune diseases, including multiple sclerosis, type 1 diabetes mellitus, myasthenia gravis, rheumatoid arthritis, and systemic lupus erythematosus. Animal models are indispensable research tools that enable us to study illness pathophysiology and discover novel therapeutics. Laboratory and companion animals can be used to study autoimmune disorders due to their shorter life spans, which enable the entire disease onset and development to be studied within a relatively short period of time and thus offer insights into underlying pathologies, aetiologies, and specific signalling pathways. Animal models play an important role in helping us to understand autoimmune disorders’ pathophysiology, despite their potential disadvantages, such as incomplete illness presentations or limited genetic similarity due to the variability of genetic background in humans. More than 90% of the animals used in research are mice and other rodents, such as rats and hamsters, including companion animals. Genetic engineering can be used to create mouse models of interest via genetic modifications including knock-outs, knock-ins, and transgenics, which are crucial to the study of autoimmune disease.

This Special Issue focuses on the broad spectrum of selection criteria for experimental animal models and the development of genetically engineered animal models, humanized mice, and autoimmune-disease-susceptible animals to study autoimmune disease pathophysiology, as well as the search for and analysis of novel therapeutics.

You may choose our Joint Special Issue in Veterinary Sciences.

Dr. Dhananjay Yadav
Dr. Nidhi Puranik
Dr. Amit Kumar Jaiswal
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Medical Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access quarterly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• autoimmune diseases
• animal model
• humanized mouse
• companion animals
• genetically engineered animal
• inflammation