title: Th17 cell plays a role in the pathogenesis of Hashimoto's thyroiditis in patients.
abstract: Hashimoto's thyroiditis (HT) has long been epidemiologically associated with excess iodine levels. However, the underlying immunological mechanisms still remain largely unexplored. Th17 cells are commonly recognized as playing vital roles in various autoimmune diseases. Here we show that intra-thyroid infiltrating Th17 cells and serum IL-17 levels were significantly increased in HT patients. However, the concentration of serum IL-17 was inversely correlated with patients' residual thyroid function while the heterogeneously expressed thyroid IL-17 was directly correlated with local fibrosis. Administration of moderate high levels of iodine was found to facilitate the polarization of murine splenic naïve T cells into Th17 cells, whereas extreme high levels of iodine favored Th1 polarization and inhibited Treg development. These findings suggest that both Th1 and Th17 cells may be involved in the pathogenesis of HT and high levels of iodine may play a critical role in this process by modulating T cell differentiation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Breast and Thyroid Surgery, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430000, PR China.
authors.forename: Dapeng
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Wenqian
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Cai
authors.forename: Runxia
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Gu
authors.forename: Yi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Huafeng
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Ke
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Tang
authors.forename: Pingwei
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Foad
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Katirai
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Shi
authors.forename: Longqiang
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Tao
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Bo
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Huang
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000818:Animals; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000187:drug effects; D002465:Cell Movement / Q000187:drug effects; D005260:Female; D005355:Fibrosis; D050031:Hashimoto Disease / Q000097:blood / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D020381:Interleukin-17 / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000097:blood / Q000276:immunology*; D007455:Iodine / Q000494:pharmacology; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008875:Middle Aged; D009928:Organ Specificity; D013154:Spleen / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D018417:Th1 Cells / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*; D058504:Th17 Cells / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*; D013961:Thyroid Gland / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*
chemical_list: D020381:Interleukin-17; D007455:Iodine
keywords: Autoimmune thyroiditis; Hashimoto's thyroiditis; IL-17; Iodine; Regulatory T cell; Th17 cell