Xenobiotic Exposure and Autoimmune Diseases: An Update on Epidemiological Evidences and Potential Mechanisms

Autoimmune diseases occur due to the abnormal response of the adaptive immune system towards the body's tissues, recognizing them as foreign and leading to chronic inflammation and harm to the tissues. Toxicologists and other scientists believe that factors such as genes, surroundings, and lifestyle can make autoimmune diseases more likely. Xenobiotics, such as chemical pollutants, drugs, microbes, and heavy metals might raise the chances of getting autoimmune diseases. Substantial epidemiological studies show a link between exposure to the above-mentioned xenobiotics and occurrence of autoimmune diseases. More than eighty types of autoimmune diseases have been identified so far, including systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), rheumatoid arthritis (RA), multiple sclerosis (MS), Type I Diabetes, psoriasis, and Grave's disease etc. Although the underlying molecular mechanism of autoimmune disease occurrence is not clear, some findings revealed that xenobiotics exposure results in processes like erroneous identification of self-antigens by adaptive immune system, autoantibodies development, enhanced level of reactive oxygen species, cross-reactive antibodies production, DNA damage, and increased pro-inflammatory cytokine level lead to the disease condition. The present review article comprehensively discusses various xenobiotic compounds, and their ill-effects on human health to allow researchers working in this area to design their research work efficiently, using updated information on autoimmune diseases.