Etiopatogenia das tiroidites auto-imunes.

Abstract

The author reviews the etiopathogeny of autoimmune thyroiditis: sequestered antigen, clonal selection, acquired tolerance with low doses of antigen and disordered immunoregulation. The main thyroid autoantibodies, their characteristics and functions are described. The genetic susceptibility associated to HLA antigen as well as the importance of inappropriate expression in thyroid epithelium are also pointed out. The experimental autoimmune thyroiditis, induced or spontaneous is shown as a model to the study of human autoimmune thyroiditis.