Genetics and Autoimmunity: Recent News

Abstract Autoimmune diseases (ADs) have a complex pathogenesis in which an interaction between individual genetic predisposition and environmental, hormonal and immunological factors lead to protean clinical forms with specific features. The genetic basis of most of these diseases has not yet been fully clarified but great progresses have been done in research technology allowing to recognize several genes associated with each condition or with definite disease manifestation. Recent advances in genome-wide association studies across autoimmune and immune-mediated diseases have improved our understanding of such pathogenic mechanisms. The future is towards the clarification of the exact role of the genetic risk factors in ADs that might prove useful in preventing the onset of ADs and eventually in developing targeted effective interventions.