Cohen S B, Weetman A P
Department of Medicine, University of Cambridge Clinical School, UK.
Int Arch Allergy Appl Immunol. 1990;91(1):47-53. doi: 10.1159/000235088.
Previous experiments have indicated that experimental autoimmune thyroiditis (EAT) induced in the Buffalo strain of rat by neonatal thymectomy closely resembles Hashimoto's thyroiditis. In these experiments we have analysed the serology of this type of EAT. Anti-thyroglobulin (Tg) antibodies were the only thyroid autoantibodies detected by immunoblotting. The IgG subclass distribution, analysed by a monoclonal anti-rat IgG subclass ELISA, altered during the course of disease. The proportion of IgG1 subclass Tg antibodies rose and the proportion of IgG2b subclass antibodies fell as disease progressed and the relative functional affinities of the anti-Tg IgG subclasses increased as disease progressed. The sera from animals with EAT were not cytotoxic in the presence of complement to a cultured rat thyroid cell line. In conclusion, EAT does not result in the production of antibodies against heterologous autoantigens as in Hashimoto's thyroiditis. Tg antibodies are produced which have similar properties to human Tg autoantibodies, including lack of cytotoxicity, and subclass restriction; these appear to have little pathogenic role in the disease.
先前的实验表明，新生期胸腺切除诱导的布法罗品系大鼠实验性自身免疫性甲状腺炎（EAT）与桥本甲状腺炎极为相似。在这些实验中，我们分析了此类EAT的血清学情况。通过免疫印迹法检测到抗甲状腺球蛋白（Tg）抗体是唯一的甲状腺自身抗体。通过单克隆抗大鼠IgG亚类ELISA分析的IgG亚类分布在疾病过程中发生了改变。随着疾病进展，IgG1亚类Tg抗体的比例上升，IgG2b亚类抗体的比例下降，并且抗Tg IgG亚类的相对功能亲和力随着疾病进展而增加。EAT动物的血清在补体存在的情况下对培养的大鼠甲状腺细胞系无细胞毒性。总之，EAT不会像桥本甲状腺炎那样导致针对异源自身抗原的抗体产生。所产生的Tg抗体具有与人类Tg自身抗体相似的特性，包括缺乏细胞毒性和亚类限制；这些似乎在该疾病中几乎没有致病作用。
