Common bacteria activating natural killer T cells may cause autoimmune liver disease

A bacteria commonly found in soil and water triggered autoimmune symptoms in mice similar to those found in an incurable liver disease called Primary Biliary Cirrhosis (PBC). Reporting their findings in the May 15 Cell Host & Microbe, the multi-institutional research team said injecting laboratory mice with the bacterium – Novosphingobium aromaticivorans – prompted activation of Natural Killer T (NKT) cells, which were critical to initiating autoimmune processes that led to liver disease.