A recent study carried out by the Australian scientists from the Sydney’s Garvan Institute of Medical Research has found a link between two autoimmune diseases, Type 1 diabetes and Sjogren’s syndrome. The researchers have discovered a new group of immune cells that connects these two autoimmune diseases.

The new type of immune cells belongs to a sub-class of ‘T helper cells’, which are the white blood cells in the body and helps other immune cells to perform their tasks

Drs Cecile King and Helen McGuire, from Sydney’s Garvan Institute of Medical Research said that the research team has found particularly high numbers of a unique immune cell in the affected organs of mice with Type 1 diabetes and Sjogren’s syndrome during the trials.

The researchers have claimed that very high levels of these of immune cells were also found in patients with Sjogren’s syndrome.

These autoimmune diseases occur when the body’s defence mechanism becomes overactive and instead of attacking invading microbes, it starts to attack itself. In diabetes, the body attacks insulin producing cells in the pancreas whereas in Sjogren’s syndrome, it attacks its own salivary glands. The recent discovery is expected to help the scientists in developing new treatments for autoimmune diseases.