Skip to content
MediBalans›Autoimmunity & Chronic Inflammation
Investigation · Stockholm

Autoimmune disease.
When the body loses tolerance.

Immune tolerance is the body’s active ability to protect its own tissues. Regulatory T cells keep self-reactive immune cells in check. Their function is closely linked to mitochondrial function, methylation and other forms of gene regulation. At MediBalans, we investigate which biological and lifestyle factors are relevant to your individual situation.

What does the immune system’s own brake need to function? The 2025 Nobel Prize in Medicine recognised discoveries about immune tolerance. Continuing research reveals concrete mechanisms to investigate, from cellular metabolism to signals produced by gut microbes.

Free initial consultation · 45 minutes

Price: SEK 0 · No referral required · Banérgatan 10 in Stockholm or online

Book a free consultation
4.8
Patient reviews on Reco
Based on verified patient reviews
Reco.seVerified

Key facts: autoimmune disease investigation at MediBalans

What
Physician-led assessment of autoimmune disease, considering relevant connections between immune regulation, methylation, metabolism, gut symptoms, nutritional status and lifestyle.
Who
Adults with Hashimoto’s, rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, psoriasis or another autoimmune or immune-mediated diagnosis who want a joined-up assessment of their situation.
Where
MediBalans, Banérgatan 10, 1 tr, 115 23 Stockholm, Sweden — or online. Test kits are shipped across Sweden.
First step
Free first consultation, 45 minutes. No referral needed. Book a consultation or call +46 76 686 76 67.
Cost thereafter
Depends on which analyses are clinically justified in your case; you receive a cost overview before anything is ordered.

Our role alongside your existing care

An autoimmune diagnosis can leave questions about fatigue, gut symptoms and everyday function even when treatment is underway. We review your situation alongside your existing care, identifying questions that merit further assessment.

We do not replace your rheumatologist, endocrinologist or other treating specialist. Changes to prescribed treatment are coordinated with the treating clinician. Research on immune tolerance helps explain biological mechanisms; it does not show that every mechanism can be measured or corrected in an individual patient.

From mechanism to clinical question

Which factors are relevant to you?

Your diagnosis, disease activity, previous results and medicines are the starting point. We also review gut symptoms, diet, nutritional status, sleep, physical activity and recovery. Lifestyle is central to the individual assessment.

Methylation-related questions are assessed through diet, medicines and relevant laboratory results, such as folate, B12 and homocysteine. Homocysteine is interpreted alongside factors including nutritional status and kidney function. Genetic findings can add information about predisposition when relevant to the clinical question. [8]

Global Constraint Rule · our working model

GCR helps structure questions about possible biological constraints. Your medical history and clinical findings determine which analyses are appropriate and how results should be interpreted.

01 · Your situation

Disease, treatment and daily life

We consider your diagnosis and current treatment alongside symptoms, eating habits and recovery.

02 · Targeted investigation

Tests that answer a question

Established tests and any additional analyses are selected according to what may be relevant in your case.

03 · Follow-up

A plan with clear goals

We follow symptoms, function and relevant results in coordination with your usual care.

Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2025

The body has an active system
for protecting itself from itself.

Mary E. Brunkow, Fred Ramsdell and Shimon Sakaguchi were recognised for discoveries concerning peripheral immune tolerance. Their work showed how regulatory T cells, or Tregs, and the FOXP3 gene help prevent the immune system from attacking the body’s own tissues. [1]

Tolerance must be actively maintained. Treg cells act as a biological brake on other immune cells. FOXP3 controls central aspects of their development and function. When this regulation fails, self-reactive immune responses can gain ground.

This makes the conditions for immune regulation a central research question: how are these cells affected by their metabolism, their environment and the signals they receive?

Research connecting the mechanisms

Mitochondria. Microbiome. Methylation.

Three routes into the same question: what enables Treg cells to maintain tolerance?

01 · Mitochondria · mouse model

Cellular metabolism sustains the brake

When researchers disabled complex III in the mitochondrial respiratory chain of Treg cells, the cells lost their suppressive function and the mice developed severe inflammation. Treg numbers and Foxp3 expression remained intact. This directly connects mitochondrial function to immune regulation. [2]

02 · Microbiome · cell and mouse studies

Gut bacteria signal to the tolerance system

Butyrate, a short-chain fatty acid produced by bacterial fermentation in the gut, increased Treg differentiation in experiments. Changes in histone acetylation at the Foxp3 gene provided a possible molecular explanation. Gut microbes can influence immune regulation through the substances they produce. [3]

03 · Methylation · metabolism and gene regulation

Methylation shapes immune-cell behaviour

Methionine metabolism supplies cells with SAM, a central methyl donor. Methylation of DNA and histones influences gene regulation and immune-cell development. Stable Treg cells also have a characteristically demethylated region of FOXP3. The connection involves both nutrient metabolism and the regulation of specific genes. Explore the connection →

These studies explain biological mechanisms. Demonstrating that a particular treatment restores immune tolerance in people requires clinical studies of that treatment.

Methylation · connecting nutrition, metabolism and immune regulation

Methylation is part of
the immune system’s control machinery.

Immune-cell behaviour is influenced by which genes are active. Methylation metabolism connects nutrient availability to the regulation of those genes, affecting both inflammatory and tolerance-preserving functions.

  1. Folate + B12Participate in recycling homocysteine to methionine.
  2. Methionine → SAMSAM supplies methyl groups for DNA, histones and other molecules.
  3. SAM → SAH → homocysteineAfter methyl transfer, homocysteine can return to the methionine cycle.
A simplified view of the methionine cycle and its connection to folate and B12 metabolism. [5] [8]

Nutrient metabolism can change gene regulation

SAM, S-adenosylmethionine, donates methyl groups to DNA, histones — the proteins around which DNA is wrapped — and other molecules. The transfer produces SAH, S-adenosylhomocysteine. The availability of SAM and SAH influences methylation reactions, connecting cellular metabolism to gene regulation. [5]

In studies of activated T helper cells, methionine availability influenced SAM, histone methylation and inflammatory cell programmes. Methionine restriction reduced disease-driving Th17 responses in a mouse model of autoimmune neuroinflammation. Methylation metabolism can therefore influence how an immune response develops. [6]

The right regulation in the right cells

Demethylation at a specific FOXP3 region is important for stable Treg identity. This makes which genes and which cells are affected central to understanding methylation changes. Methylation does not operate as a single dial where higher is always better. [4]

This is where methylation meets mitochondria. In the Treg complex III study, the metabolites succinate and 2-hydroxyglutarate increased; these inhibit the TET enzymes that demethylate DNA. Altered metabolism coincided with increased DNA methylation and lost suppressive function. The study connects mitochondrial metabolism, epigenetics and immune regulation. [2]

MediBalans · research and method development

Autoimmunity is also an area of development for us.

Patent application filed · autoimmune diseases

From clinical questions to method development

Dr Mario Anthis has filed a patent application in the field of autoimmune diseases. MediBalans develops its own methods alongside its clinical work.

The application is part of the research programme. Clinical treatment effects need to be demonstrated in studies.

Explore the MediBalans research programme →

FAQ

Questions about autoimmune investigation

The first 45-minute consultation is free. What the investigation costs after that depends on which tests are medically justified in your case — you get a clear cost picture before anything is ordered. Prices for individual tests and packages are listed under Book.
No. MediBalans is a private clinic in Stockholm and you book yourself, without a referral.
Yes. The consultation can take place at Banérgatan 10 in Stockholm or online. Test kits for home sampling are posted to you wherever you live.
We review your diagnosis, previous findings and treatment alongside gut symptoms, diet, nutritional status and lifestyle. The aim is to identify relevant clinical questions, select appropriate analyses and plan follow-up in coordination with your usual care.
Mary E. Brunkow, Fred Ramsdell and Shimon Sakaguchi were recognised for discoveries concerning peripheral immune tolerance. Their research showed how regulatory T cells and FOXP3 help prevent the immune system from attacking the body’s own tissues.
Yes. In a mouse study, Treg cells lost their suppressive function when mitochondrial complex III was disabled, despite preserved Treg numbers and Foxp3 expression. This is strong evidence for a mechanism in that model. It does not establish mitochondrial dysfunction as the cause in every patient or show that a supplement treats autoimmune disease.
Methylation connects nutrient metabolism to gene regulation. SAM and SAH influence methylation reactions, and studies show that methionine metabolism can change inflammatory T-cell programmes. Stable Treg identity is also linked to demethylation at a specific FOXP3 region. The significance depends on which genes and cells are affected.
No. A stool test, ALCAT, MethylDetox or CMA does not directly measure Treg suppressive function or methylation of the FOXP3 region. These analyses answer other questions and need to be interpreted alongside medical history, clinical findings and established tests.
We follow symptoms, function and the test results relevant to your diagnosis and plan. Changes in autoantibodies alone do not demonstrate restored immune tolerance. Medication changes are coordinated with the treating physician.

Sources for the mechanisms

  1. Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2025Prize recipients and the discoveries concerning peripheral immune tolerance.
  2. Weinberg et al. · Nature, 2019 · Mitochondrial complex III and Treg functionExperimental mouse study distinguishing Treg cell numbers from their function.
  3. Furusawa et al. · Nature, 2013 · Butyrate and colonic regulatory T cellsCell and mouse studies of butyrate, Foxp3 and Treg differentiation.
  4. Baron et al. · European Journal of Immunology, 2007 · FOXP3 demethylation in human T cellsHuman cell studies of epigenetic regulation, not a trial of treatment efficacy.
  5. Mentch et al. · Cell Metabolism, 2015 · One-carbon metabolism and histone methylationExperimental research on SAM, SAH, nutrient availability and histone methylation.
  6. Roy et al. · Cell Metabolism, 2020 · Methionine metabolism and T helper cell responsesCell studies and a mouse model of autoimmune neuroinflammation.
  7. Kinoshita, Sakaguchi et al. · Journal of Immunology, 2012 · Dietary folate and colonic Treg survivalMouse study co-authored by Shimon Sakaguchi, examining folate and Treg survival.
  8. NIH Office of Dietary Supplements · Folate · Vitamin B12Folate, B12, methionine metabolism and interpretation of nutritional markers.
Next step

Understand your situation.
Take the next step with us.

Start with a free consultation about your diagnosis, your symptoms and the questions a targeted investigation could answer.

Book
Svenska versionen

Care area · Autoimmunity & inflammation

Further reading: autoimmunity, gut and immune regulation

Explore related conditions and the questions different analyses can answer.

Keep reading. Explore symptom guides, clinical notes, assessments and diagnostics in our knowledge base.

Visit the knowledge base →

MediBalans + Meet Mario

Your plan continues between visits

For patients following a MediBalans protocol, Meet Mario can make the plan easier to follow between visits, with a meal plan, educational explanations and a separate channel to the care team.

See how Meet Mario supports your plan
Meet Mario patient view showing today's personal plan

Explore the topic before your assessment