Autoimmunity in Thyroid Disease

Abstract

AUTOIMMUNE processes have been implicated in a variety of systemic disorders, including some primary hemolytic anemias, idiopathic thrombocytopenia, drug-induced neutropenias and collagenvascular diseases. The immunologic basis for such disorders has not been directly substantiated, and some investigators resist the concept that the body can develop antibodies against its own tissues. However, the results of recent studies of thyroiditis in animals^{1 , 2} and in human beings^{3 4 5 6 7 8} have more firmly established the idea that autoimmune processes may cause systemic disease.For many years physicians have been impressed by the finding of elevated serum levels of gamma globulin and abnormal serum flocculation in some . . .