Targets of Anti-CD20 Antibody Therapy Contribute to Disease Pathogenesis and Are Spontaneous Autoimmune Thyroiditis Follicular B Cells in Thyroids of Mice with

B cell depletion inhibits spontaneous autoimmune thyroiditis in NOD.H-2h4 mice.

B cells are important for the development of most autoimmune diseases. B cell depletion immunotherapy has emerged as an effective treatment for several human autoimmune diseases, although it is unclear whether B cells are necessary for disease induction, autoantibody production, or disease progression. To address the role of B cells in a murine model of spontaneous autoimmune thyroiditis (SAT),...

Transgenic expression of TGF-beta on thyrocytes inhibits development of spontaneous autoimmune thyroiditis and increases regulatory T cells in thyroids of NOD.H-2h4 mice.

Transgenic NOD.H-2h4 mice expressing TGF-beta under control of the thyroglobulin promoter were generated to assess the role of TGF-beta in the development of thyrocyte hyperplasia. In contrast to nontransgenic littermates, which develop lymphocytic spontaneous autoimmune thyroiditis (L-SAT), all TGF-beta transgenic (Tg) mice given NaI water for 2-7 mo developed thyroid lesions characterized by ...

Transgenic Expression of TGF-b on Thyrocytes Inhibits Development of Spontaneous Autoimmune Thyroiditis and Increases Regulatory T Cells in Thyroids of NOD.H-2h4 Mice

Transient depletion of B cells in young mice results in activation of regulatory T cells that inhibit development of autoimmune disease in adults.

B-cell depletion therapy can be effective for treating B-cell lymphomas as well as many human and murine autoimmune diseases. B-cell-deficient mice are normally resistant to spontaneous autoimmune thyroiditis (SAT), but they develop SAT if regulatory T cells are transiently depleted during the first 3-6 weeks after birth. This was also a critical time when B-cell depletion effectively inhibited...

Inhibition of TGFbeta1 by anti-TGFbeta1 antibody or lisinopril reduces thyroid fibrosis in granulomatous experimental autoimmune thyroiditis.

In this study, a murine model of granulomatous experimental autoimmune thyroiditis (G-EAT) was used to determine the role of TGFbeta1 in fibrosis initiated by an autoimmune inflammatory response. The fibrotic process was evaluated by staining thyroid tissue for collagen, alpha-smooth muscle actin, TGFbeta1, and angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE), and measuring serum thyroxine in mice given ant...