Evolution and host-dependent lesions in autoimmune thyroiditis: experimental study in inbred mice.

The evolution of thyroid pathology in experimental autoimmune thyroiditis was studied in several inbred strains of mice. The disease was induced by immunization with mouse thyroglobulin emulsified in Freund's complete adjuvant. In addition to the common lymphoid/mononuclear cell infiltration seen in other animal species with experimental autoimmune thyroiditis, several distinct thyroid lesions occurred only in certain strains of mice, suggesting a strain-dependency of these lesions. These lesions appeared often at the peak of the common lesion of autoimmune thyroiditis. These findings suggest that the thyroid pathology in murine autoimmune thyroiditis varies during its course and that some lesions occurring in this disease are strain-dependent. A genetic influence on the morphology of thyroid in chronic thyroiditis of man is postulated.