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Response to 'TH1 and TH2 cytokine control of thyrocyte survival in thyroid autoimmunity'

Nature Immunology volume 2, page 371 (2001)Cite this article

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Mirakian et al. question our recent results, which suggest that thyrocyte survival during thyroid autoimmunity depends on differential effects of TH1 and TH2 cytokines1. Thyrocyte destruction in autoimmune thyroiditis is a slow process that lasts several years. We hypothesized that in thyroid autoimmunity the balance between life and death in thyrocytes depends on the predominance over the time of TH2 and TH1 cytokines, whose action is not restricted to immune cells but involves direct modulation of key molecules responsible for survival or death of target cells1.

As we discussed in our article, GD and HT are the two extremes of a wide clinical spectrum of thyroid autoimmunity that includes a series of mixed forms showing various degrees of tissue destruction. This heterogeneity may explain some conflicting results published in the literature.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Surgical, Anatomical and Oncological Sciences, Human Anatomy Section, University of Palermo, Palermo, 90127, Italy

    Giorgio Stassi

  2. Department of Experimental Medicine and Pathology, University of Rome “La Sapienza”, Italy

    Antonella Stoppacciaro & Luigi Ruco

  3. Laboratory of Hematology and Oncology, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Rome, 00161, Italy

    Ruggero De Maria

Authors
  1. Giorgio Stassi
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  2. Antonella Stoppacciaro
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  3. Luigi Ruco
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  4. Ruggero De Maria
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Stassi, G., Stoppacciaro, A., Ruco, L. et al. Response to 'TH1 and TH2 cytokine control of thyrocyte survival in thyroid autoimmunity'. Nat Immunol 2, 371 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1038/87663

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