Stress & Organ Specific Autoimmunity: A Complex Interrelationship
Overview Article The evidence for stress contributing to the onset and course of autoimmune disease is circumstantial and the mechanisms by which stress affects autoimmune disease remain poorly understood. The best evidence for an effect of stress on the development of an autoimmune disorder is the well-known relationship between the clinical onset of Graves’ hyperthyroidism, […]
Stress-Induced Th2 Shift & Thyroid Autoimmunity: Unifying Hypothesis
Evolving Concepts Thyroid autoimmunity may manifest clinically as chronic autoimmune or Hashimoto’s thyroiditis (HT) and its variants (postpartum/sporadic thyroiditis) or as Graves’ disease (GD) and atrophic thyroiditis. These autoimmune thyroid diseases (AITD) occur as a result of aberrant immune response against thyroid antigens due to breakdown of self-tolerance [1]. Although HT and GD share a […]
Thyroid Hormone Modulation of Immune Responses in Physiologic and Stressful Conditions: Implications for Thyroid Diseases
Overview article Recent evidence indicates the presence of bidirectional interactions between the hypothalamic-pituitary-thyroid (HPT) axis and the immune system. Hypothyroidism leads to a suppression of humoral and cell-mediated immune responses, effects that are often reversed by restoration of the euthyroid state. In accordance, chronic stress induces a decrease in thyroid hormone levels that in turn, […]
Caleb Parry and the Relationship Between Hyperthyroidism and Stress
Historical Perspectives The disease that we commonly call Graves’ disease, or Basedow’s disease in part of Europe, was actually described by Caleb Parry many years before Graves’ published a description of hyperthyroidism and ophthalmopathy. Caleb Parry was a British physician born October 21st 1755, who worked in Bath. He was a busy General Practitioner, […]
First Evidence That Th22 Cells May Contribute To the Pathogenesis of Graves’ Disease
Posted on September 10, 2014 By Graciela Cremaschi Commentaries
Commentary on the study by Di Peng et al., PLoS One. 2013 Jul 11;8(7):e68446 A High Frequency of Circulating Th22 and Th17 Cells in Patients with New Onset Graves’ Disease The many immune mechanisms involved in the onset and development of autoimmune diseases make their pathophysiology heterogeneous and complex. Among them, CD4+ T cells play […]