| Abstract: | The effect of thyroid hormones on experimental autoimmune thyroiditis in the rat has been studied to determine whether the autoimmune process is influenced by alteration of thyroid hormone secretion from the diseased gland. Restoration of thyroid hormone levels in vivo had no effect on thyroglobulin antibody production or thyroiditis, and no effect of thyroid hormone on antibody secretion was found with in vitro culture of lymphocytes, suggesting that the pathogenesis of autoimmune thyroiditis is independent of thyroid hormone secretion. |
