Skip to main content
NCBI home page
Clinical and Experimental Immunology logoLink to Clinical and Experimental Immunology
. 1984 Apr;56(1):135–142.

The role of the spleen in experimental autoimmune thyroiditis.

A P Weetman, A M McGregor, D P Rennie, R Hassman, R Hall
PMCID: PMC1535949  PMID: 6232023

Abstract

We have investigated the role of the spleen in the humoral and cellular immune response of rats with experimental autoimmune thyroiditis (EAT) induced by immunization with thyroglobulin and Freund's complete adjuvant. Animals subjected to splenectomy within 4 days of immunization developed lower thyroglobulin antibody levels and less severe thyroiditis compared to sham operated controls. There was no impairment in the ability of the animals to recover spontaneously from the disease after splenectomy. Together with the results obtained using splenocyte infusions, this suggests that suppressor cell production within the spleen plays only a small part in the normal immunological control which is presumably responsible for spontaneous regression of the disease.

Full text

PDF
135

Selected References

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

  1. Ben-Nun A., Ron Y., Cohen I. R. Spontaneous remission of autoimmune encephalomyelitis is inhibited by splenectomy, thymectomy or ageing. Nature. 1980 Nov 27;288(5789):389–390. doi: 10.1038/288389a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Benner R., van Oudenaren A., de Ruiter H. Antibody formation in mouse bone marrow. IX. Peripheral lymphoid organs are involved in the initiation of bone marrow antibody formation. Cell Immunol. 1977 Nov;34(1):125–137. doi: 10.1016/0008-8749(77)90235-0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Braley-Mullen H., Tompson J. G., Sharp G. C., Kyriakos M. Suppression of experimental autoimmune thyroiditis in guinea pigs by pretreatment with thyroglobulin-coupled spleen cells. Cell Immunol. 1980 May;51(2):408–413. doi: 10.1016/0008-8749(80)90272-5. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Brownlie B. E., Hamer J. W., Cook H. B., Hamwood S. M. Letter: Thyrotoxicosis associated with splenic atrophy. Lancet. 1975 Nov 22;2(7943):1046–1047. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(75)90344-x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Clinton B. A., Weigle W. E. Cellular events during the induction of experimental thyroiditis in the rabbit. J Exp Med. 1972 Dec 1;136(6):1605–1615. doi: 10.1084/jem.136.6.1605. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Cox K. O., Finlay-Jones J. J. Impaired regulation of erythrocyte autoantibody production after splenectomy. Br J Exp Pathol. 1979 Oct;60(5):466–470. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Creemers P., Rose N. R., Kong Y. M. Experimental autoimmune thyroiditis. In vitro cytotoxic effects of T lymphocytes on thyroid monolayers. J Exp Med. 1983 Feb 1;157(2):559–571. doi: 10.1084/jem.157.2.559. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Folch H., Waksman B. H. The splenic suppressor cell. I. Activity of thymus-dependent adherent cells: changes with age and stress. J Immunol. 1974 Jul;113(1):127–139. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Hougen H. P., Hansen F., Jensen E. K., Röpke C. Kinetics of small lymphocytes in normal and nude mice after splenectomy. Scand J Haematol. 1977 Apr;18(4):257–266. doi: 10.1111/j.1600-0609.1977.tb01195.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Keller S. E., Weiss J. M., Schleifer S. J., Miller N. E., Stein M. Suppression of immunity by stress: effect of a graded series of stressors on lymphocyte stimulation in the rat. Science. 1981 Sep 18;213(4514):1397–1400. doi: 10.1126/science.6973822. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. McGregor A. M., Rennie D. P., Weetman A. P., Hassman R. A., Foord S. M., Dieguez C., Hall R. The influence of cyclosporin a on experimental autoimmune thyroid disease in the rat. Life Sci. 1983 Jan 3;32(1-2):97–108. doi: 10.1016/0024-3205(83)90177-7. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Miyawaki T., Seki H., Moriya N., Nagaoki T., Kubo M., Okuda N., Taniguchi N. Suppression of pokeweed mitogen-induced differentiation of human B cells by in vitro levamisole-treated T lymphocytes. Clin Exp Immunol. 1980 Apr;40(1):161–167. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Penhale W. J., Irvine W. J., Inglis J. R., Farmer A. Thyroiditis in T cell-depleted rats: suppression of the autoallergic response by reconstitution with normal lymphoid cells. Clin Exp Immunol. 1976 Jul;25(1):6–16. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Reinherz E. L., Penta A. C., Hussey R. E., Schlossman S. F. A rapid method for separating functionally intact human T lymphocytes with monoclonal antibodies. Clin Immunol Immunopathol. 1981 Nov;21(2):257–266. doi: 10.1016/0090-1229(81)90214-2. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Rennie D. P., McGregor A. M., Keast D., Weetman A. P., Foord S. M., Dieguez C., Williams E. D., Hall R. The influence of methimazole on thyroglobulin-induced autoimmune thyroiditis in the rat. Endocrinology. 1983 Jan;112(1):326–330. doi: 10.1210/endo-112-1-326. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Romball C. G., Weigle W. O. Splenic role in the regulation of immune responses. Cell Immunol. 1977 Dec;34(2):376–384. doi: 10.1016/0008-8749(77)90259-3. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Rose N. R., Kong Y. C., Okayasu I., Giraldo A. A., Beisel K., Sundick R. S. T-cell regulation in autoimmune thyroiditis. Immunol Rev. 1981;55:299–314. doi: 10.1111/j.1600-065x.1981.tb00346.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Roubinian J. R., Papoian R., Pillarisetty R., Sawada S., Talal N. Immunological regulation of spontaneous antibodies to DNA and RNA. III. Early effects of neonatal thymectomy and splenectomy. Immunology. 1977 Sep;33(3):399–406. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Wardrop C. A., Dagg J. H., Lee F. D., Singh H., Dyet J. F., Moffat A. Immunological abnormalities in splenic atrophy. Lancet. 1975 Jul 5;2(7923):4–7. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(75)92949-9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Weetman A. P., McGregor A. M., Rennie D. P., Hall R. Sites of autoantibody production in rats with thyroiditis. Immunology. 1982 Jun;46(2):465–472. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

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

RESOURCES