The structure of the human thyroid in relation to ageing and focal thyroiditis.
Quantitative studies of non-nodular thyroid glands without focal thyroiditis obtained from consecutive autopsies on women aged over 20 yr showed a decrease in colloid content and an increase in stromal tissues with advancing age. When focal lymphocytic thyroiditis was present these changes were increased. This observation supports the theory that low-grade auto-immune processes can mimic or accelerate the ageing process but does not indicate that they initiate it.
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging; D003102:Colloids; D004848:Epithelium / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008214:Lymphocytes / Q000473:pathology; D008875:Middle Aged; D009929:Organ Size; D013961:Thyroid Gland / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000473:pathology; D013966:Thyroiditis / Q000473:pathology*
D003102:Colloids