Dendritic cells and veiled accessory macrophages : hormonal influences and autoimmune thyroid disease

Immune responses to thyroid specific autoantigens form the basis of autoimmune thyroid disease pathogenesis. Two polar forms of autoimmune reactivity of the thyroid gland exist in this disease spectrum: a catabolic form characterized by gradual inflammatory destruction of thyroid parenchyma leading to thyroid failure, and an anabolic form in which stimulation of the growth and metabolism of the thyroid parenchyma leads to goiter formation and hyperthyroidism. The catabolic form is best known as destructive autoimmune thyroiditis, whereas the anabolic form is generally referred to as Graves’ disease.