Heterogeneity of Autoimmune Thyroiditis

A number of results have indicated that not only humoral but also cellular immune mechanisms are involved in the pathogenesis of thyroid autoimmunity. In recent years studies in animals and man seem to indicate a multifactorial influence involving the immune response genes. Moreover, genetic heterogeneity is evidenced in autoimmune thyroid diseases, previously thought to be stages of the same disorder. Therefore, theories concerning the display of organ-specific autoantibody formation are reviewed in this paper.