title: Experimental autoimmune thyroiditis in human parvovirus B19 transgenic mice.
abstract: Viral infection is implicated as a cause of autoimmune diseases. Whereas its role in Hashimoto's thyroiditis (HT) remains undefined, recent studies suggested a link between human parvovirus B19 (B19) infection and HT. We tested such possibility by using B19 nonstructural protein 1 (NS1) transgenic C57BL/6 mice, which harbor nonpermissive genetic background (H-2(b)). Mice were immunized with either thyroglobulin (Tg) or saline. No thyroiditis developed in saline-treated mice and Tg-immunized males regardless of the presence or absence of NS1. In contrast, thyroiditis was induced by Tg immunization in 25% of transgenic females, but not in wild-type females. However, the thyroiditis incidence in the former did not differ significantly from that of the latter. In addition, intrathyroidal T-cell receptor gene expression was not augmented in Tg-immunized transgenic females. Immunization with Tg led to a comparable increase in serum anti-Tg antibody levels in the wild-type and transgenic mice. Our results indicate that the introduction of B19 NS1 gene into C57BL/6 mice is insufficient to promote the development of autoimmune thyroiditis. Further studies are required, however, before concluding that B19 infection is not involved in HT induction.
authors.affiliation: Division of Nephrology, Endocrinology and Vascular Medicine, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine, Sendai, Japan. kokimori@yahoo.co.jp
authors.forename: Kouki
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Mori
authors.forename: Katsumi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Yoshida
authors.forename: Keiko
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ishii
authors.forename: Kazuki
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Morohoshi
authors.forename: Yoshinori
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Nakagawa
authors.forename: Saeko
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hoshikawa
authors.forename: Hiroshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ozaki
authors.forename: Yurie
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Takahashi
authors.forename: Sadayoshi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ito
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001327:Autoimmune Diseases / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D015496:CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology; D018414:CD8-Positive T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology; D016207:Cytokines / Q000097:blood; D005260:Female; D005434:Flow Cytometry; D050031:Hashimoto Disease / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D008822:Mice, Transgenic; D016732:Parvovirus B19, Human / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology*; D058408:Th1-Th2 Balance; D013954:Thyroglobulin / Q000008:administration & dosage; D017361:Viral Nonstructural Proteins / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D016207:Cytokines; D017361:Viral Nonstructural Proteins; D013954:Thyroglobulin