The autoimmune endocrinopathies the complexities continue to ravel.
The organ-specific autoimmune endocrinopathies constitute a group of disorders related to one another and to some other nonendocrine autoimmune organ-specific diseases. Although there are genetic links between these entities, there are genetic differences as well; the suggestion of autoantigenic crossreactivity has not borne fruit and does not appear to explain these associations. Each condition may be due to a defect(s) in specific antigen-presenting genes, with consequential effects on specific T lymphocyte activation. Genetic overlap may explain poly-endocrine autoimmune disease or the appearance of different maladies in other family members. The immune response is extremely complex, but the many elements involved, and molecules that can interdict them, provide some promise for potential new therapeutic immunomodulatory interventions. (Trends Endocrinol Metab 1997;8:59-63). (c) 1997, Elsevier Science Inc.
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Endocrine Research Laboratory, The Wellesley Hospital, University of Toronto,Toronto, Ontario M4Y 1J3,Canada.