British researchers have identified a new type of immunodeficiency in a young woman, according to the website of Newcastle University. Previously, the disease was not known.

23-year-old Stacey Sheppard from Sunderland was taken to a university clinic in late 2009 with complaints of shortness of breath. The examination revealed a rare metabolic disorder - pulmonary alveolar proteinosis, but its cause could not be found.

The woman had to spend several months in the clinic, because on the basis of her condition, an infectious process developed in the lungs, which is difficult to treat. As a result, she began to need a constant source of oxygen and because of severe shortness of breath, she lost the ability to perform even simple actions.

During the diagnostic search, Sheppard performed a bone marrow biopsy. The study of the obtained tissue sample showed that the woman practically lacks the precursors of dendritic cells - an integral part of the immune system. As it turned out, her three close relatives, including her father, died between the ages of 24 and 35 from blood cancer, with a high likelihood of developing on the basis of a similar immune deficiency.

The researchers named the detected hereditary disease DCML-deficiency (from dendritic cell, monocyte, B and NK lymphoid - dendritic cells, monocytes, B- and NK-lymphocytes).

Clarification of the causes of the disease indicated possible treatment - bone marrow transplantation. Sheppard agreed to the operation, and after rehabilitation treatment, according to her own words, "returned to life".

As the researcher Matthew Collin (Matthew Collin) noted, the detection of a new disease is extremely important, since it will allow to identify patients in the early stages of the disease and give them a chance for a complete cure.

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