Skip to main content
PMC home page
Clinical and Experimental Immunology logoLink to Clinical and Experimental Immunology
. 1968 Feb;3(2):107–117.

Immunological features of idiopathic Addison's disease: an antibody to cells producing steroid hormones

J R Anderson, R B Goudie, Kathleen Gray, D A Stuart-Smith
PMCID: PMC1578871  PMID: 4868174

Abstract

Antibodies to adrenocortical cells, occurring in the serum of patients with idiopathic Addison's disease, were investigated by the indirect immunofluorescence technique. With selected human adrenal tissue obtained post mortem, staining was brightest in the innermost cells of the adrenal cortex. Strongly positive sera were observed to react with all thirty specimens of adrenal tissue examined, but lipid-depleted adrenocortical tissue provided the most suitable reagent for detecting weak antibody.

Immunofluorescence tests upon twenty positive sera, using a wide range of human tissues, revealed in one serum an antibody, or antibodies, which reacted with all types of cells producing steroid hormones, namely testicular Leydig cells, hilus cells of the ovary and testis, theca interna and corpus luteal cells of the ovary, and placental trophoblast. A second, weaker example of `steroid-cell antibody' was detected among the twenty sera.

The significance of steroid-cell antibody is discussed briefly in relation to steroid hormone biosynthesis and gonadal failure in idiopathic Addison's disease.

Full text

PDF
107

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. ANDERSON J. R., GOUDIE R. B., GRAY K. G., TIMBURY G. C. Auto-antibodies in Addison's disease. Lancet. 1957 Jun 1;272(6979):1123–1124. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(57)91687-2. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. BARNETT E. V., DUMONDE D. C., GLYNN L. E. INDUCTION OF AUTOIMMUNITY TO ADRENAL GLAND. Immunology. 1963 Jul;6:382–402. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. BLIZZARD R. M., CHANDLER R. W., KYLE M. A., HUNG W. Adrenal antibodies in Addison's disease. Lancet. 1962 Nov 3;2(7262):901–903. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(62)90681-5. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. BLIZZARD R. M., KYLE M. STUDIES OF THE ADRENAL ANTIGENS AND ANTIBODIES IN ADDISON'S DISEASE. J Clin Invest. 1963 Oct;42:1653–1660. doi: 10.1172/JCI104851. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. BLIZZARD R. M., TOMASI T. B., CHRISTY N. P. AUTOANTIBODIES AGAINST THYROID AND ADRENAL TISSUE IN A PATIENT WITH MULTIPLE, PRIMARY ENDOCRINE DEFICIENCIES. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 1963 Nov;23:1179–1180. doi: 10.1210/jcem-23-11-1179. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Blizzard R. M., Chee D., Davis W. The incidence of adrenal and other antibodies in the sera of patients with idiopathic adrenal insufficiency (Addison's disease). Clin Exp Immunol. 1967 Jan;2(1):19–30. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. CHRISTY N. P., HOLUB D. A., TOMASI T. B. Primary ovarian, thyroidal and adrenocortical deficiencies simulating pituitary insufficiency, associated with diabetes mellitus. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 1962 Feb;22:155–160. doi: 10.1210/jcem-22-2-155. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. GOLDBERG B., JONES G. E., BORKOWF H. I. A HISTOCHEMICAL STUDY OF SUBSTRATE SPECIFICITY FOR THE STEROID 3 BETA-OL DEHYDROGENASE AND ISOMERASE SYSTEMS IN HUMAN OVARY AND TESTIS. J Histochem Cytochem. 1964 Dec;12:880–889. doi: 10.1177/12.12.880. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Irvine W. J., Stewart A. G., Scarth L. A clinical and immunological study of adrenocortical insufficiency (Addison's disease). Clin Exp Immunol. 1967 Jan;2(1):31–70. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. MEAD R. K. Autoimmune Addison's disease. Report of a possible case. N Engl J Med. 1962 Mar 22;26:583–586. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Nerup J., Soborg M., Halberg P., Brochner-Mortensen K. Organ specific antibodies in Addison's disease. Acta Med Scand Suppl. 1966;445:383–388. doi: 10.1111/j.0954-6820.1966.tb02387.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. RIGGS J. L., SEIWALD R. J., BURCKHALTER J. H., DOWNS C. M., METCALF T. G. Isothiocyanate compounds as fluorescent labeling agents for immune serum. Am J Pathol. 1958 Nov-Dec;34(6):1081–1097. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. RUBIN B. L., DEANE H. W., HAMILTON J. A. BIOCHEMICAL AND HISTOCHEMICAL STUDIES ON 3-BETA-HYDROXYSTEROID DEHYDROGENASE ACTIVITY IN THE ADRENAL GLANDS AND OVARIES OF DIVERSE MAMMALS. Endocrinology. 1963 Dec;73:748–763. doi: 10.1210/endo-73-6-748. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. SAMUELS L. T., HELMREICH M. L., LASATER M. B., REICH H. An enzyme in endocrine tissues which oxidizes 5-3 hydroxy steroids to delta 5-3 unsaturated ketones. Science. 1951 Apr 27;113(2939):490–491. doi: 10.1126/science.113.2939.490. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. WATTENBERG L. W. Microscopic histochemical demonstration of steroid-3 beta-ol dehydrogenase in tissue sections. J Histochem Cytochem. 1958 Jul;6(4):225–232. doi: 10.1177/6.4.225. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Clinical and Experimental Immunology are provided here courtesy of British Society for Immunology

RESOURCES