Suzuki Eriko, Kobayashi Yoshihiro, Yano Motoki, Fujii Yoshitaka
Department of Surgery II, Nagoya City University Medical School, Nagoya, Japan.
Autoimmunity. 2008 Aug;41(5):377-82. doi: 10.1080/08916930801987573.
Thymoma is frequently associated with autoimmune diseases, including myasthenia gravis (MG). The failure of thymoma microenvironment to induce T cell tolerance may be responsible for its association of MG. Autoimmune regulator (AIRE) expression in the medullary thymic epithelial cells has been reported to play a role in presenting autoantigen and induction of tolerance. We studied AIRE mRNA in 45 thymomas and three normal thymi using quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Only 23/45 (51.1%) of thymomas expressed AIRE mRNA at low levels while all normal thymi expressed AIRE mRNA. There was no correlation between AIRE mRNA and association of MG or presence of anti-acetylcholine receptor antibody. The infrequent and low expression of AIRE mRNA may play a role the induction of autoimmune diseases but other factors also seem to be involved.
胸腺瘤常与自身免疫性疾病相关，包括重症肌无力（MG）。胸腺瘤微环境无法诱导T细胞耐受可能是其与MG相关的原因。据报道，髓质胸腺上皮细胞中的自身免疫调节因子（AIRE）表达在呈递自身抗原和诱导耐受方面发挥作用。我们使用定量逆转录聚合酶链反应（RT-PCR）研究了45例胸腺瘤和3例正常胸腺中的AIRE mRNA。仅23/45（51.1%）的胸腺瘤低水平表达AIRE mRNA，而所有正常胸腺均表达AIRE mRNA。AIRE mRNA与MG的相关性或抗乙酰胆碱受体抗体的存在之间无相关性。AIRE mRNA的表达稀少且水平较低可能在自身免疫性疾病的诱导中起作用，但似乎也涉及其他因素。
