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Thyroid-Infiltrating T Lymphocyte Subsets in Hashimoto's Thyroiditis^*

Departments of Internal Medicine (R.J., T.H.T., P.A.D.) and Pathology (J.S.), University Hospital, and The Wallenberg Laboratory (T.H.T.), University of Uppsala Uppsala, Sweden

Address all correspondence and requests for reprints to: Dr. R. Jansson, Department of Internal Medicine, University Hospital, S-750 14 Uppsala, Sweden.

In Hashimoto's thyroiditis, the thyroid gland is infiltrated with immunocompetent lymphocytes. In this study we have used the fine needle aspiration technique to obtain thyroid-infiltrating lymphocytes from 11 HT patients for surface marker studies. The cells were characterized using conventional T and B cell markers as well as monoclonal antibodies (OKT) to different T cell subsets in a microscale immunofluorescence assay.

We observed a relative decrease in intrathyroidal suppressor phenotype T (OKT 8⁺) cell numbers compared with peripheral blood (13% vs. 26%; P < 0.01 by Wilcoxon signed rank test). This resulted in an increased helper to suppressor T (OKT 4⁺/OKT 8⁺) cell ratio (4.7 vs. 2.1; P < 0.01). Within the gland, a significant local accumulation of B cells was also registered (27% vs. 12%; P < 0.01). As to circulating lymphocyte subsets, no differences were found between 18 Hashimoto's thyroiditis patients and 26 normal subjects.

Our results are compatible with a local synthesis of thyroid-directed antibodies and emphasize the importance of studying the local immunity in organ-specific autoimmune disease. (J Clin Endocrinol Metab 56: 1164, 1983)

^* Presented in part at the 64th Annual Meeting of The Endocrine Society, San Francisco, CA, June 1982. This work was supported by grants from the Swedish Cancer Society and the Swedish Medical Research Council (no. 4996).

Received August 16, 1982.