Experimental autoimmune thyroiditis

Chen K, Wei Y, Sharp GC, Braley-Mullen H. Inhibition of TGFfll by anti-TGFpi antibody or lisinopril reduces thyroid fibrosis in granulomatous experimental autoimmune thyroiditis. Journal of Immunology 2002, 169, 6530-6538. 

Fournier, C. etal. (1990) In vivo beneficial effects of cyclosporin A and 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 on the induction of experimental autoimmune thyroiditis. Clinical Immunology and Immunopathology, 54, 53-63. 

Experimental autoimmune thyroiditis (EAT). Autoimmune thyroiditis experimentally induced in several strains of mice and rats by immunization with thyroglobulin or by neonatal thymectomy. 

Fas/FasL-mediated apoptosis may not be responsible for thyroid cell damage in NOD.H-2 mice with autoimmune thyroiditis, which may contribute to species difference. Bluther etal. (1999) found an obvious higher mRNA expression of Fas/FasL in thyroid from BB/W rats with experimental autoimmune thyroiditis (EAT), a finding that supported the conclusion that cell apoptosis accounted for thyroid tissue damage, over-expressed Fas on thyroid cells in EAT rats, combined with FasL on lymphocytes, and finally led to thyroid apoptosis and damage. 

Hassman, R.A., et al.. The influence of lithium chloride on experimental autoimmune thyroid disease, Clin Exp. Immunol., 1985, 61 49-57. 

Many environmental factors have been implicated in the induction of autoimmunity. One dietary component, iodine, has been well studied as a factor that increases autoimmune thyroid disease.67 68 Based on studies in the OS chicken, the increasing prevalence of autoimmune thyroid disease observed in U.S. and Western European populations has been ascribed to increased use of iodized salt.69 Experimentally, it can be shown that iodinated thyroglobulin is a more potent autoantigen than the equivalent noniodinated molecule. Food additives or pesticides may also be important in contributing to the development of autoimmune disease in susceptible individuals.70... 

Malenchenko AF, Barkun NA, Guseva GF. 1978. Effect of uranium on the induction and course of experimental autoimmune orchitis and thyroiditis. J Hyg Epidemiol, Microbiol, Immunol 22 268-277. 

Hozumi, Y., Kobayashi, E., Miyata, M., Fujimura, A. Immunotherapy for experimental rat autoimmune thyroiditis using a novel immunosuppressant, FTY720. Life Sci 65 (1999) 1739-1745. 

NOD.H-2 mice are presently considered as an animal model for autoimmune thyroiditis. In 2005, NOD.H-2 mice were introduced from the Jackson Company, USA, and raised at the experimental animal center of the China Medical University under specific pathogen-free conditions. 

Weigle, W.O. (1980). Analysis of autoimmunity through experimental models of thyroiditis and allergic encephalomyelitis. Adv. Immunol. 30 159-275. 

Antithyroid drugs may also suppress lymphocytic infiltration into the thyroid and thereby directly modulate the basic disorder of autoimmune hyperthyroidism (SEDA-6, 364 SEDA-9, 344). Propylthiouracil, but not the thioimidazoles, also inhibits the conversion of thyroxine to its more active derivative triiodothyronine. This effect is significant during high-dose treatment, and propylthiouracil may therefore be preferred if a more rapid onset of action is desired, for example thyrotoxic crisis, although clear experimental proof of the advantageous effect is still lacking (3). 

A higher iodine intake may also possibly lead to more thyroid autoimmunity. Such a mechanism has been experimentally documented in animals genetically prone to develop autoimmunity, but convincing epidemiological evidence for this mechanism being operative in human populations is lacking (Pedersen and Laurberg, 2007). 

Recently evidence is accumulating that iodine is a modulating factor in the development of thyroid autoimmune reactivity. In humans, iodine deficiency as well as iodine excess can lead to goitre formation and/or lymphocytic thyroiditis. Affected patients show a variety of thyroid reactive autoantibodies in the circulation. In experimental animal models of thyroid autoimmunity, viz the BB rat and the OS chicken, the incidence of lymphocytic thyroiditis is enhanced by an excessive dietary iodine intake, whereas iodine restriction ameliorates the disease. 

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