When was the first case of autoimmune disease reported diagnosed or recorded in history?

There is no definitive answer to this question, as autoimmune diseases have been described for centuries, but were not consistently recognised as a distinct category until the early 20th century.

One of the earliest potential reports of an autoimmune disease may be the Biblical story of Naomi, who appears to have suffered from Sjogren's syndrome. Sjogren's syndrome is a chronic autoimmune disorder that affects the exocrine glands, causing dry mouth and dry eyes. In the Book of Ruth, Naomi laments that her "eyes are dim, and I cannot see" (Ruth 1:14), a potential symptom of Sjogren's syndrome. Other biblical references, including those describing leprosy, could potentially refer to autoimmune diseases, but these interpretations are purely speculative.

In 1555, the renowned physician Paracelsus wrote about a condition called "tarantism," which was characterised by a rapid heart rate, shortness of breath, and involuntary movements, thought to be caused by the bite of a tarantula. Today, tarantism is believed to have been a psychogenic illness, possibly related to an autoimmune condition.

In the 18th and 19th centuries, several medical practitioners reported cases of individuals with symptoms resembling autoimmune diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus, and Graves' disease. However, it wasn't until the 20th century that these conditions began to be recognised and categorised as autoimmune diseases.

One of the key figures in the history of autoimmunity was the Russian immunologist Ilya Mechnikov, who proposed the theory of "horror autotoxicus" in 1900. This theory suggested that the immune system normally recognises and attacks foreign invaders, but under certain conditions, it can mistakenly attack the body's own tissues, leading to autoimmune disease.

In 1956, the term "autoimmunity" was coined by the British immunologist Ernest Witebsky. Witebsky defined autoimmunity as "the state in which an organism produces harmful antibodies against its own tissues." This definition helped to solidify the concept of autoimmune diseases as a distinct group of disorders.

In the years since, research in autoimmunity has expanded dramatically, leading to the identification of numerous autoimmune diseases and the development of therapies to manage and treat them.