Yehuda Shoenfeld

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Yehuda Shoenfeld
An interview with Yehuda Shoenfeld on Autoimmune Syndrome induced by Adjuvants (ASIA)

Yehuda Shoenfeld (born February 14, 1948) [1] is an Israeli physician and autoimmunity researcher.

Contents

Biography

Yehuda Shoenfeld works at Sheba Medical Center in Tel HaShomer and the Sackler Faculty of Medicine at Tel-Aviv University. He studied at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He is the incumbent of the Laura Schwarz-Kipp Chair for Research of Autoimmune Diseases. Shoenfeld is the editor of two journals, Harefuah (Medicine) in Hebrew with English abstracts and Israel Medical Association Journal (IMAJ). He is co-editor-in-chief of Autoimmunity Reviews , [2] and co-editor of the Journal of Autoimmunity , [3] and member of the editorial board of the Clinical Reviews in Allergy & Immunology. [4]

Shoenfeld, proposed a syndrome he calls Autoimmune Syndrome Induced by Adjuvants (ASIA), which aims to be an autoimmune response to vaccine adjuvants. [5]

Published works

He has published more than 2,000 papers [6] . Also, he has authored and edited 40 books and contributed more than 350 chapters to various books, most recently Vaccines and Autoimmunity published by Wiley Blackwell. Prof. Shoenfeld is on the editorial board of 43 medical journals. [7]

Awards and recognition

Shoenfeld received the EULAR Prize (Austria, 2005). He received the Nelson’s Prize for Humanity and Science from U.C. Davis (U.S., 2008). He was honored as Doctoris Honoris Causa by Debrecen University (Hungary, 2009). He has awarded a Life Contribution Prize in Internal Medicine (Israel, 2012), as well as the ACR Master Award (U.S., 2013). He is an honorary member of the Hungarian Association of Rheumatology, Slovenian National Academy of Sciences and the Royal College of Physicians (UK). [7]

Controversy

Two of Shoenfeld's scientific articles have been retracted [8] [9] . A 2016 paper asserting a link between HPV vaccine and behavioral problems in mice, was retracted due to concerns about its methodology and data. [10]

Nili Cohen, President of the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities, has pointed out that "no human being can publish 1,939 papers" unless Shoenfeld’s true contribution to this vast amount of publications is insignificant. [11] She calculated that 1.54 papers per week have been published on average.

In 2015 an article was published refuting the relationship between adjuvants and autoimmune conditions. [12] [13]

He served on the scientific advisory board of the anti-vaccine group Children's Medical Safety Research Institute, has spoken at a number of anti-vaccination conferences, and has regularly appeared as an expert witness for people attempting to prove injury from vaccines in court. [14]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sjögren syndrome</span> Autoimmune disease affecting the bodys moisture-producing glands

Sjögren's disease (SjD) is a long-term autoimmune disease that primarily affects the body's exocrine glands, particularly the lacrimal and salivary glands. Common symptoms include dry mouth, dry eyes and often seriously affects other organ systems, such as the lungs, kidneys, and nervous system.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Autoimmunity</span> Immune response against an organisms own healthy cells

In immunology, autoimmunity is the system of immune responses of an organism against its own healthy cells, tissues and other normal body constituents. Any disease resulting from this type of immune response is termed an "autoimmune disease". Prominent examples include celiac disease, diabetes mellitus type 1, Henoch–Schönlein purpura, systemic lupus erythematosus, Sjögren syndrome, eosinophilic granulomatosis with polyangiitis, Hashimoto's thyroiditis, Graves' disease, idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura, Addison's disease, rheumatoid arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, polymyositis, dermatomyositis, and multiple sclerosis. Autoimmune diseases are very often treated with steroids.

Immunotherapy or biological therapy is the treatment of disease by activating or suppressing the immune system. Immunotherapies designed to elicit or amplify an immune response are classified as activation immunotherapies, while immunotherapies that reduce or suppress are classified as suppression immunotherapies. Immunotherapy is under preliminary research for its potential to treat various forms of cancer.

Immunodeficiency, also known as immunocompromisation, is a state in which the immune system's ability to fight infectious diseases and cancer is compromised or entirely absent. Most cases are acquired ("secondary") due to extrinsic factors that affect the patient's immune system. Examples of these extrinsic factors include HIV infection and environmental factors, such as nutrition. Immunocompromisation may also be due to genetic diseases/flaws such as SCID.

Non-obese diabetic or NOD mice, like biobreeding rats, are used as an animal model for type 1 diabetes. Diabetes develops in NOD mice as a result of insulitis, a leukocytic infiltrate of the pancreatic islets. The onset of diabetes is associated with a moderate glycosuria and a non-fasting hyperglycemia. It is recommended to monitor for development of glycosuria from 10 weeks of age; this can be carried out using urine glucose dipsticks. NOD mice will develop spontaneous diabetes when left in a sterile environment. The incidence of spontaneous diabetes in the NOD mouse is 60–80% in females and 20–30% in males. Onset of diabetes also varies between males and females: commonly, onset is delayed in males by several weeks. The mice are known to carry IgG2c allele.

In immunology, an adjuvant is a substance that increases or modulates the immune response to a vaccine. The word "adjuvant" comes from the Latin word adiuvare, meaning to help or aid. "An immunologic adjuvant is defined as any substance that acts to accelerate, prolong, or enhance antigen-specific immune responses when used in combination with specific vaccine antigens."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Deoxyribonuclease gamma</span> Protein-coding gene in the species Homo sapiens

Deoxyribonuclease gamma is an enzyme that in humans is encoded by the DNASE1L3 gene. This gene's is located on chromosome 3's "p arm", i.e., short arm, between region 1, band 4, sub-band 3 and region 2, band 1, sub-band 1

Betty Diamond is an American physician and researcher. She is director of the Institute of Molecular Medicine at Northwell Health's Feinstein Institute for Medical Research in Manhasset, NY. She was elected a member of the National Academy of Sciences in 2022.

Protective autoimmunity is a condition in which cells of the adaptive immune system contribute to maintenance of the functional integrity of a tissue, or facilitate its repair following an insult. The term ‘protective autoimmunity’ was coined by Prof. Michal Schwartz of the Weizmann Institute of Science (Israel), whose pioneering studies were the first to demonstrate that autoimmune T lymphocytes can have a beneficial role in repair, following an injury to the central nervous system (CNS). Most of the studies on the phenomenon of protective autoimmunity were conducted in experimental settings of various CNS pathologies and thus reside within the scientific discipline of neuroimmunology.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Autoimmune disease</span> Disorders of adaptive immune system

An autoimmune disease is a condition that results from an anomalous response of the adaptive immune system, wherein it mistakenly targets and attacks healthy, functioning parts of the body as if they were foreign organisms. It is estimated that there are more than 80 recognized autoimmune diseases, with recent scientific evidence suggesting the existence of potentially more than 100 distinct conditions. Nearly any body part can be involved.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anti-dsDNA antibodies</span> Group of anti-nuclear antibodies

Anti-double stranded DNA (Anti-dsDNA) antibodies are a group of anti-nuclear antibodies (ANA) the target antigen of which is double stranded DNA. Blood tests such as enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and immunofluorescence are routinely performed to detect anti-dsDNA antibodies in diagnostic laboratories. They are highly diagnostic of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and are implicated in the pathogenesis of lupus nephritis.

Autoimmune progesterone dermatitis(APD) occurs during the luteal phase of a woman's menstrual cycle and is an uncommon cyclic premenstrual reaction to progesterone. It can present itself in several ways, including eczema, erythema multiforme, urticaria, angioedema, and progesterone-induced anaphylaxis. The first case of autoimmune progesterone dermatitis was identified in 1964. Reproductive function may be impacted by APD.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Autoimmune polyendocrine syndrome type 1</span> Autoimmune condition causing dysfunction of endocrine glands

Autoimmune polyendocrine syndrome type 1 (APS-1), is a subtype of autoimmune polyendocrine syndrome. It causes the dysfunction of multiple endocrine glands due to autoimmunity. It is a genetic disorder, inherited in autosomal recessive fashion due to a defect in the AIRE gene , which is located on chromosome 21 and normally confers immune tolerance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chronic spontaneous urticaria</span> Medical condition

Chronic spontaneous urticaria(CSU) also known as Chronic idiopathic urticaria(CIU) is defined by the presence of wheals, angioedema, or both for more than six weeks. The most common symptoms of chronic spontaneous urticaria are angioedema and hives that are accompanied by itchiness.

Autoimmune/inflammatory syndrome induced by adjuvants (ASIA), or Shoenfeld's syndrome, is a hypothesised autoimmune disorder proposed by Israeli immunologist Yehuda Shoenfeld in 2011. According to Shoenfeld, the syndrome is triggered by exposure to adjuvants and includes four conditions: "post-vaccination symptoms", macrophagic myofasciitis, Gulf war syndrome, sick building syndrome, and siliconosis. Apart from the theoretical concept of ASIA, there no evidence for any causal relationship between adjuvant and autoimmune condition. A study of 18,000 people showed that there is no merit to the theory of autoimmune/inflammatory syndrome induced by adjuvants. Shoenfeld alleges that the syndrome is caused by adjuvants such as silicone, tetramethylpentadecane, pristane, and aluminum. However, causality is difficult to prove because ASIA only occurs in a small fraction of patients exposed to these adjuvants. Additionally, proponents of this theory allege that the disorder can manifest anywhere from 2 days to 23 years after exposure. Shoenfeld has also named Sjögren's syndrome as potentially being another facet of ASIA.

Neuropsychiatric systemic lupus erythematosus or NPSLE refers to the neurological and psychiatric manifestations of systemic lupus erythematosus. SLE is a disease in which the immune system attacks the body's own cells and tissues. It can affect various organs or systems of the body. It is estimated that over half of people with SLE have neuropsychiatric involvement.

Christopher Ariel Shaw is a Canadian neuroscientist and professor of ophthalmology at the University of British Columbia.

The Children's Medical Safety Research Institute (CMSRI) was a United States based anti-vaccination group which funded a number of pseudoscientific studies, notably by Christopher Shaw of the University of British Columbia, and his collaborator Lucija Tomljenovic, and by Christopher Exley of Keele University, which purport to link aluminium in vaccines to autism. The studies have been rejected by the World Health Organization and some have been retracted. A claimed "vaccinated vs. unvaccinated" cohort study has also been debunked.

References

  1. "Yehuda Shoenfeld Curriculum Vitae" (PDF). WAIDID. Retrieved 23 February 2019.
  2. "Autoimmunity Reviews" via www.journals.elsevier.com.
  3. "Journal of Autoimmunity - Editorial Board". www.journals.elsevier.com. Elsevier. Retrieved 5 March 2019.
  4. "Clinical Reviews in Allergy & Immunology".
  5. Shoenfeld, Yehuda; Agmon-Levin, Nancy (Feb 2011). "'ASIA' - autoimmune/inflammatory syndrome induced by adjuvants". Journal of Autoimmunity. pp. 36(1):4-8. Retrieved 6 Nov 2024.
  6. "Shoenfeld Y - Search Results - PubMed". PubMed. Retrieved 2024-11-06.
  7. 1 2 "2016 Symposium: Advances in Autoimmunity" (PDF). NYU Langone Medical Center, Colton Center for Autoimmunity. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2019-03-06. Retrieved 5 March 2019.
  8. Inbar, Rotem; Weiss, Ronen; Tomljenovic, Lucija; Arango, Maria-Teresa; Deri, Yael; Shaw, Christopher A.; Chapman, Joab; Blank, Miri; Shoenfeld, Yehuda (2016). "WITHDRAWN: Behavioral abnormalities in young female mice following administration of aluminum adjuvants and the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine Gardasil". Vaccine. doi:10.1016/j.vaccine.2015.12.067. PMID   26778424. (Retracted, see doi:10.1016/j.vaccine.2015.12.067, PMID   26778424,  Retraction Watch)
  9. Blank, Miri; Matthias, Torsten; Chapman, Joab; Harel-Meir, Michal; Slutsky, Inna; Zusev, Margalit; O’Kane, Sara Louise; Cahill, Dolores J.; Arango, Maria-Teresa; Shoenfeld, Yehuda; Kivity, Shaye (1 October 2017). "Retracted: Anti-ribosomal-phosphoprotein autoantibodies penetrate to neuronal cells via neuronal growth associated protein, affecting neuronal cells in vitro". Rheumatology. 56 (10): 1827. doi: 10.1093/rheumatology/kex259 . PMID   28957569.
  10. McCook, Alison (2017-08-15). ""The paper is extremely flawed:" Journal retracts article linked to vaccines". Retraction Watch. Retrieved 2019-10-15.
  11. Gorski, David (2019-07-01). "The Israeli Academy of Sciences and Humanities elects antivaxer Yehuda Shoenfeld to its ranks". sciencebasedmedicine.org. Retrieved 2021-08-23.
  12. Ameratunga, Rohan (2017-11-01). "Evidence Refuting the Existence of Autoimmune/Autoinflammatory Syndrome Induced by Adjuvants (ASIA)". The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology: In Practice. 5 (6): 1551–1555.e1. doi:10.1016/j.jaip.2017.06.033. ISSN   2213-2198. PMID   28888842.
  13. Hawkes D.; et al. (May 2015). "Revisiting adverse reactions to vaccines: A critical appraisal of Autoimmune Syndrome Induced by Adjuvants (ASIA)". J. Autoimmun. 59: 77–84. doi:10.1016/j.jaut.2015.02.005. PMID   25794485.
  14. Kupferschmidt, Kai (2019-11-06). "Top Israeli immunologist accused of promoting antivaccine views" . Retrieved 2020-01-10.