Thyroid autoantibodies in thyroid disease

Can viral envelope glycolipids produce auto-immunity, with reference to the CNS and multiple sclerosis?

Many viruses, with lipid envelopes derived from the host cell membranes, have been implicated in the aetiology of multiple sclerosis (MS), and epidemiological studies support an infectious agent. Alternatively the disease is thought by other workers to be auto-immune in nature, and recently much attention has been focused on immunological sensitivity to glycolipids in MS patients. In this paper it is proposed that CNS demyelination could arise in susceptible individuals (HLA type) from an immune response to glycolipids, triggered by the carrier effect of one or more enveloped neurotropic viruses.

Juvenile rheumatoid arthritis in children with diabetes mellitus

Seven children with insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus were found to have juvenile rheumatoid arthritis; six of these children had the polyarticular form of the disease. All six had positive serology (rheumatoid factor and/or antinuclear antibody) and clinical or serologic evidence of autoimmune diseases usually ascribed to the thyrogastric cluster. Five expressed HLA antigens associated with increased risk for both diabetes and rheumatoid arthritis in adults. Evidence of B cell hyperactivity and impaired T cell response was found in some, but immunoregulatory function was normal in all. The association of these two diseases may be the result of factors other than chance alone, and may be more common than previously suspected.

Immunologic tests of value in diagnosis. 1. Acute phase reactants and autoantibodies

Acute phase reactants are nonspecific indicators of tissue necrosis and/or inflammation but may be helpful in determining activity of disease. Rheumatoid factor is likewise rather nonspecific, but its presence is helpful in predicting the course, severity, and complications of rheumatoid arthritis. Numerous antinuclear antibodies have been identified in collagen vascular diseases; perhaps the most specific association is between anti-Sm antibody and systemic lupus erythematosus. Anti-smooth-muscle and antimitochondrial antibodies can aid in differential diagnosis of liver disease, while antithyroid antibodies can perform a similar function in diffuse goiter. Anti-parietal-cell and anti-intrinsic-factor antibodies are quite specific for pernicious anemia.