New insights into the development of sarcoidosis

Bild: MedUni Wien - Sarcoidosis is an inflammatory disease in which immune cells form tissue nodules in various organs, which can drastically impair organ function. Now a MedUni Vienna research team led by Thomas Weichhart from the Center for Pathobiochemistry and Genetics has developed an animal model that replicates the development of the disease in the heart and can contribute to research into sarcoidosis. Initial results suggest significant roles for certain proteins and immune cells in the development of sarcoidosis. The findings of these studies have been published in Science Translational Medicine and the Journal of the American Heart Association. In sarcoidosis, granulomas, nodular immune cell collections, form and can occur in almost any organ. The disease probably starts with a pathological spread of macrophages (scavenger cells) and then other immune cells infiltrate the nodules, which contribute to the complete clinical picture. The lungs are most commonly affected, but the heart is often also affected by the granulomatous leasions, and this sometimes drastically limits heart function.