title: Lymphocyte Subsets in the Adrenal Glands of Dogs With Primary Hypoadrenocorticism.
abstract: Primary hypoadrenocorticism, or Addison's disease, is an autoimmune condition common in certain dog breeds that leads to the destruction of the adrenal cortex and a clinical syndrome involving anorexia, gastrointestinal upset, and electrolyte imbalances. Previous studies have demonstrated that this destruction is strongly associated with lymphocytic-plasmacytic inflammation and that the lymphocytes are primarily T cells. In this study, we used both immunohistochemistry and in situ hybridization to characterize the T-cell subtypes involved. We collected postmortem specimens of 5 dogs with primary hypoadrenocorticism and 2 control dogs and, using the aforementioned techniques, showed that the lymphocytes are primarily CD4+ rather than CD8+. These findings have important implications for improving our understanding of the pathogenesis and in searching for the underlying causative genetic polymorphisms.
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of Clinical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, USA.|2 Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Minnesota, St Paul, MN, USA.
authors.forename: S G
authors.initials: SG
authors.lastname: Friedenberg
authors.affiliation: 3 WIL Research (a Charles River Company), Hillsborough, NC, USA.
authors.forename: D L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Brown
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of Clinical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, USA.
authors.forename: K M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Meurs
authors.affiliation: 4 Department of Population Health and Pathobiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, USA.
authors.forename: J McHugh
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Law
mesh_terms: D000224:Addison Disease / Q000473:pathology / Q000662:veterinary*; D000311:Adrenal Glands / Q000473:pathology*; D000818:Animals; D018791:CD4 Lymphocyte Count / Q000662:veterinary; D004283:Dog Diseases / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology*; D004285:Dogs; D005260:Female; D017403:In Situ Hybridization / Q000662:veterinary; D016131:Lymphocyte Subsets / Q000473:pathology*; D008297:Male
keywords: Addison’s disease; adrenal gland; dogs; endocrine diseases; hypoadrenocorticism; immunophenotype; lymphocyte subsets