BACKGROUND It is known that Hashimoto's thyroiditis (HT) may progress to Graves' disease (GD) and that this phenomenon may be more frequent in the patients with Down syndrome (DS). AIMS To shed light on the relationships between Down syndrome (DS) and metamorphic thyroid autoimmunity. PATIENTS AND METHODS We reconstructed the conversion process from HT to GD in 12 DS children. All the data ...

INTRODUCTION Failures in apoptotic pathways can contribute to various autoimmune diseases, including autoimmune hyperthyroidism due to Graves' disease (GD). The aim of the present research was to assess changes in the degree of peripheral blood (PB) lymphocyte apoptosis during methimazole (MMI) treatment in the group of teenage children, and to describe its relationship with thyroid function te...

BACKGROUND Thyrotoxicosis is conceptualized as an "autoimmune" disease with no accepted infectious etiology. There are increasingly compelling data that another "autoimmune" affliction, Crohn disease, may be caused by Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis (MAP). Like M. tb, MAP is systemic. We hypothesized that some cases of thyrotoxicosis may be initiated by a MAP infection. Because ...

To investigate the effect of hypothyroidism on gonadal and adrenal functions in male Japanese quail (Coturnix japonica), hypothyroidism was induced in male adult Japanese quail by daily administration of 2-Mercapto-1-methylimidazole (methimazole) in their drinking water. Four weeks after methimazole treatment, the Japanese quail were sacrificed, and the plasma concentrations of free triiodothyr...

Proinflammatory cytokine (e.g., TNF-alpha)-induced expression of endothelial cell adhesion molecules (ECAMs) on the lumenal surface of the vascular endothelium and a consequent increase in leukocyte adhesion are key aspects of pathological inflammation. A promising therapeutic approach to diminish aberrant leukocyte adhesion is, therefore, to inhibit cytokine-induced ECAM expression at the tran...

Since lithium has been shown to inhibit release of iodine from the thyroid, we have investigated its therapeutic potential in thyrotoxicosis. Eight detailed (131)I kinetic studies were performed on seven thyrotoxic women and data was analyzed using a computer program. Lithium at serum levels of about 1 mEq liter decreased the loss of (131)I from the thyroid, led to a fall in serum (131)I levels...

Thyroid gland explant cultures from prometamorphic Xenopus laevis tadpoles were evaluated for their utility in assessing chemicals for thyroid hormone (TH) synthesis disruption. The response of cultured thyroid glands to bovine thyroid stimulating hormone (bTSH) and the TH synthesis inhibitors methimazole, 6-propylthiouracil, and perchlorate was determined. Thyroid glands continuously exposed f...

Following O'Byrne's report ( If)) of the efficacy of antithyroid drugs in leprosy, an examination of the mechanism of action of methimazole in lepromatous leprosy was undertaken. In a preliminary report of this study (n), a lack of correspondence was noted be tween the clinical appearance of the patients and the histopathologic appearance of serial skin biopsies obtained during methimazole ther...